Time, An Endless Song
by oiche ghealai
Summary: After an encounter with Peeves, Lily Potter, Hugo Weasley and Phineas Malfoy find themselves stuck in the Hogwarts of 1943. Their situation does not improve when faced with a very young, very handsome Lord Voldemort.
1. Potion's Class

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

"Honestly, Lily, I don't understand how you can be so incapable of walking over a flat surface," Hugo Weasley said with a laugh, his deep blue eyes twinkling with amusement. Bending down, he helped his cousin, and fellow red-head, up from her embarrassing position on the stone floor of the hallway. Several groups of people passed them, barely glancing at Lily on the floor. It was a resident joke at Hogwarts how remarkably clumsy Lily Luna Potter was.

"Yeah, I seriously fail at life, but this time, I swear that flagstone was uneven," Lily Potter chuckled as she straightened her robes and shook out her mane of unruly red hair. After adjusting her bag of books to a more suitable position, the two cousins continued chatting down the mostly deserted corridor until reaching their potions classroom. Most of the class was already seated. The two cousins moved toward their usual place and waited for their best friend Phineas Malfoy to join them.

Although the trek from the Slytherin common room to the potion dungeons was much shorter than the distance from Gryffindor tower, Phineas Malfoy had the strangest knack for showing up at the very last minute before class began. Hugo had always insisted that sometimes Phineas would wait outside the class then walk in a few seconds before the professor would begin their lecture.

Sure enough, just as Professor Watson arrived at the front of the classroom and began to arrange her things, Phineas walked in and threw himself gracefully into the chair between the cousins.

"Father sent me another bloody owl this morning to covertly remind me to show up the two of you," Phineas said, pulling out his potion's book while rolling his light grey eyes, "Honestly, the man still cannot accept anything having to do with Weasleys."

"I love how you call him Father instead of Dad or something," replied Lily, looking at her blonde friend with a mischievous glint in her blue eyes.

"Yeah, what's up with that, Malfoy?" asked Hugo with grin.

Phineas sighed exaggeratedly, shrugging his shoulders.

"It's only natural for those with Weasel blood not to understand the deep complexity and refinement that is inherent in using the term 'father' instead of something insipid and degrading like 'dad'," Phineas said with a very serious expression. The two cousins laughed heartily at his impeccable sarcasm, however, their amusement was cut short as Watson began prattling away in her cheeriest voice on the properties of the Wolfsbane the class was left to begin what Professor Watson had made clear, would only be feeble attempts to brew the beyond NEWT level potion.

"Alright, boys, wanna go get the ingredients. I'll try to get the temperature right," Lily said businesslike, sweeping her wild scarlet hair up into a messy bun. She had been banned in third year from getting the potion ingredients from the supply closet after a mishap involving high explosive ingredients crashing to the ground. Lily still insisted that she had been tripped by Lucy Midgeon and that she could not truly be blamed for the fire that raged for an hour in the dungeon. Thankfully, that incident had left very few of her classmates injured and Lily managed to slide by with a week's worth of detentions.

Phineas and Hugo left Lily fumbling with the flame to head over to the supply cabinet, where they were last in the line of groups waiting for their in line, they continued their animated discussion on the National Quidditch league with Daithi Finnegan and Timmy Nott.

When Lily had finally achieved a favourable temperature for the cauldron, Lily scanned the instructions to make sure that they were on the right track.

"Shit," she muttered as she reread the ingredients to the potion, she had told them to get the wrong type of slug. She pulled up her head and called to Phineas about ten feet away "Malfoy grab the red ones, not the orange."

"Which?" Phineas asked back, looking through the last remaining jars of slugs.

"Red, it makes the potion-"

"Lily, come here and get them I can't tell," Phineas called back looking frustrated as he moved on to gathering the needed wattlebird feathers. Lily scooted her chair out and joined the two young men. Having selected the correct colour of slug, she turned to leave, but was stopped as she stared into the face of Peeves the resident poltergeist.

"Hello Peeves," Lily muttered nervously. Peeves let out a raspberry and began to look around wickedly.

"Ooooooooo Potty-wotty with her ginger hair!" Peeves said with his mischievous grin. Peeves had a love of harrassing Lily because her two brothers, and occasionally herself, had a prank war with the poltergeist throughout their years at Hogwarts.

In a panic Lily began to tell him off, "Peeves, if you do anything in this classroom, the Bloody Baron will-"

But it was too late, with a deafening crash, the shelves of the supply press came tumbling down. Powders and liquids of every colour, already brewed potions flung into the trio as the stood watching in horror. The three were thrown onto the ground and painfully battered with the contents for about ten seconds. Powder filling their lungs, Peeve's whimsical cackle and the shouting of their classmates were the last thing they remembered before the darkness took over.

* * *

The Advanced Potion Class of 1943 stared in unabashed shock at the three unconscious persons who had just materialized in their classroom. For several seconds not a single person waking from his amazement, Charlus Potter hurried across the classroom and knelt beside the intruders. They were completely covered in powders of varying shades and strange items, such as eye of newt. From what Charlus Potter could see, it seemed as if the girl, whose face was covered by wild red hair, had been rather viciously assaulted by a jar of pixie dust.

Charlus placed his fingers on the neck of the blonde haired boy and was relieved to find a strong and steady pulse.

"He's alive," confirmed Charlus, moving onto the red-haired boy. Charlus' voice seemed to shock his classmates out of their reveries and the twelve other students and their professor moved over to view the intruders and began chattering in confusion:

"How did they get here?"

"You can't apparate-"

"Gryffindor and Slytherin? I don't recognize them,"

"The red-heads look! They have Head Badges on!"

The discussion continued as Professor Slughorn turned to the Head Boy and favourite student and asked: "Should we take them to the Hospital Wing, Tom?"

Tom Riddle nodded, moving his wand in one fluid movement to levitate the unconscious persons. Flicking his dark hair from his eyes, Riddle directed the floating bodies out the classroom door.

"Class is dismissed everyone. I have to see to this. Be sure to dispose of your potions properly," said Slughorn, distractedly, following the Head Boy from the classroom.


	2. The Hospital Wing

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**.

* * *

When Lily Potter finally opened her eyes, it was to see three men standing at the foot of her bed. The first was quite short, had straw covered hair and a round belly and was in a whispered conversation with a tall and thin man with an auburn beard. Lily felt for an instant that she know this bearded man, or at least, she should know him. Perhaps he was one of Dad's friends…Maybe one of his fellow aurors.

Still groggy, Lily turned her attention to the third figure, only to find that his eerie dark eyes were gazing right into her own. As she stared wordlessly back, she felt a sense of distress and unease in the very pit of her stomach. Lily had never been looked at like that, she felt as though she was being thoroughly scanned and analysed and that was was being seen was insignificant. In a slight panic, she remembered her father's lessons in Occlumency and attempted to put up a barrier. Lily felt like she was overreacting and the thought made her face burn in embarrassment. After several seconds of being trapped in the gaze, the young man slid his eyes back to the conversing adults.

"Professor, the girl is awake," he interjected in soft, but clear voice. At this pronouncement, the other two men turned their attention to her. Lily stiffly pulled herself into a seated position as the three approached her bedside. She felt like she had little bruises all over her body from the falling potion items.

"My dear girl, what is your name?" asked the auburn-haired man. The man was dressed, rather flamboyantly, in a crushed mauve velvet suit. He had very kind blue eyes that sparkled reassuringly. Lily felt a swooping sense of trust. This man was here to help her, though she was not sure why she needed to be helped.

"Lily, Lily Potter," she replied, vaguely thinking it was an unexpectedly refreshing for anyone not to be obnoxiously well-informed about the Potter children. She had only legitimately introduced herself a handful of times. Though it was sometimes rather rude, most people made clear they knew exactly who she was before introduction.

A look of comprehension crossed the features of the auburn-bearded man.

"Ah, a Potter. And the two young men that were with you?" asked the man lightly, stepping to the side. Behind him, her cousin and friend were still unconscious in their beds. Slightly panicked, Lily made a move to stand up but was gently restrained by a raised hand.

"They are both perfectly fine, I assure you," said the blue-eyed man.

"Phineas Malfoy and Hugo Weasley" she said.

"A Malfoy and a Weasley? Interesting!" he chortled, smiling heartily at the sandy-haired teacher, who was now leaning toward the boys to further examine their faces.

"Sir-?" Lily began.

"And what exactly is the date? The full date, including the year?" he asked, looking very eager for her answer. The dark haired young man continued to be stock-still, staring intently at Lily.

Lily opened her mouth in confusion several times before replying: "September the 3rd, 2025"

There was an immediate gasp from the sandy-haired man, Lily glanced at him, before continuing meekly. Lily looked back to the auburn haired wizard whose expression was extremely thoughtful. Her eyes then travelled to the young man whose mouth had fallen open marginally. Her stomach plummeted.

"It isn't 2025?"she whispered, hoping beyond hope that the man before her would laugh at even the suggestion of time travel.

Her hopes were not answered.

"Oh, no Lily. I can safely assure you that it is 1944," replied the auburn-haired man, with a weak smile.

"WHAT! Merlin…That's like…" In her shock, Lily's pitiable skills at subtraction were nonexistent, and her current state was definitely not helping.

"Eighty-two years," said the young man softly leaning down to get a better look at Lily. She could feel her heart beating uncontrollably, a faintness was beginning to creep upon her with her comprehension. A few more moments passed as Lily gathered herself and looked straight up at the auburn haired wizard.

"You are…you…are…Aren't you… Dumbledore?" she asked, knowing full well that she was correct. A great smile broke across his face in confirmation.

"Ah, so you know me, my dear. Or I should say, know of me. I'm afraid it would be only a foolish man who would assume he lived as long as I would have to to know you personally...And this is Professor Slughorn, he teaches Potions," Lily acknowledged the man with a weak smile and turned to look at the boy next to him. Even in her state a complete confusion, Lily registered that he was very likely the most attractive person she had ever laid eyes on. He had jet-black, wavy hair parted in a manner that, Lily assumed, was common for the time period. His face was chiselled and completed with dark eyes of an unknown colour and a square jaw. He was undeniably gorgeous and for some reason this even contributed to her feeling of distrust as she looked up at him waiting to hear his name.

"Ah, yes, and this young man is Tom, Tom Riddle, our current Head Boy, he helped Professor Slughorn bring you in earlier"said Dumbledore, gesturing to the young man, who inclined his head.

"Tom…Riddle?" she asked, her stomach clenched. She had heard the name. She knew the name, she knew that name extremely well, but for some reason at this moment, under the distress of her predicament, she could not place it. It was something important. Something she would need to remember.

"Yes, Tom Riddle," the young man replied with a brilliant smile that made her clenched stomach turn. He looked intrigued at the confusion on her face.

Lily tried to make her face go blank as she asked: "How did we get here?"

"Ah, see I was wondering if you could answer that. What is the last thing that you remember?" Albus Dumbledore asked.

"Hugo, Phineas and I were in Potions…and they were going to the supply cupboard and I followed them to remind them to bring extra mandrake and Peeves came through the wall and knocked the supplies down on us," Lily recounted nervously.

"It is wonderful to think on the continuity of time. Though most people from this time are likely dead in your own time, yet we share the common experiences of dealing with a particularly pesky poltergeist," Dumbledore mused cheerily, "This explains how you appeared in the front of the supply cabinet an hour ago. I suppose it must have been the mixing of some of the supplies or some other thing…"

Lily couldn't listen to his musings. She was so panicked to be sitting in a bed in the Hospital Wing, eighty-three years in the past, speaking to a dead man.

"Professor Dumbledore, how do we get back?" Lily asked, eyes wide. Albus Dumbledore looked at her kindly, but she could see a sadness dulling his twinkle, he reached out his hand to cover her own. And Lily knew, she could not go home. She would never get home.

"I am very sorry Miss Potter, but it is fundamentally impossible for you to get back to 2025 any way other than through the natural course of time. Even if there were a chance, Lily, everything you know would have been drastically altered by even a moment you spent here. This sort of travel has happened a recorded amount of three times, the result has changed their future in many ways. I am very, very sorry Miss Potter," Dumbledore said softly.

"My family?" Lily asked, tears welling up. She tried to push them back as the lump in her throat grew. She swallowed. And looked down at her hands.

"I am very sorry for your loss."

Lily nodded. She could cry later, at least they were not dead. They just…haven't been born.

"What are we supposed to do now, sir?" Lily asked, blinking the tears out of her eyes and looking up determinedly.

"Well, I believe me my dear, we are not about to throw you out into the streets. I was hoping you would continue your education, of course we need to consult the Headmaster and-" started Dumbledore

"Wait? You are not the Headmaster?" Lily asked in surprised. To that, Slughorn let out a loud laugh.

"Oho! Congratulations on your future appointment, Albus!" said the Potions Master cheerily, patting his colleague on the back. Dumbledore offered him a smile before turning back to Lily.

"And Miss Potter, I can see that you are Head Girl in your time and Mr. Weasley is the Head Boy?" hes asked. Lily glanced at the silent, impassive face of Tom Riddle.

"Yes, sir, we are…were," she said, closing her eyes for a moment.

"Well, we shall see if you cannot be kept on as some form of prefect. And Phineas Malfoy-that is his name, is it not?-" Lily nodded, "he is a friend?"

"Yes, sir."

"Excellent, excellent. It sounds like a wonderful future if Weasleys and Potters are befriending Malfoys," he exclaimed clapping his hands together enthusiastically. Lily laughed a bit mirthlessly.

"Believe me, sir, it was _very_ hard won," she said, thinking about the two wizarding wars that it would take for a more tolerant, though not anywhere near perfect, society to emerge.

"Ah, I am unfortunately sure that it was or will be! Now down to business! I'll inform the Ministry of our situation and get all the proper documentation for you to fill out. We will also need to resort you as a part of your official enrollment. In the mean time, I hope you fill in Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy in on your uh new situation. As a last question, is Mr. Weasley there any relation of yours, as you appear to have the exact shade of red hair?"

"Hugo's father is my mother's brother. We also have the exact same eye colour."she said. She felt idiotic throwing in the bit of information about their eye colour, but it was comforting for her to think of things beyond the situation at hand.

"Ah, cousins! Lovely! Well, we will be off then to let you rest, Goodnight Miss Potter," said Dumbledore, beginning his retreat to the door with Slughorn and Riddle.

"Goodnight Miss Potter, it was astounding to meet you," said Slughorn before exiting. Lily was alone looking across the room at the dark-haired Head Boy. His dark, glittering eyes looked over her for a moment before he spoke in a velvety voice.

"Goodnight Miss Potter. I look forward to getting to know you."

Lily felt a strange, unreasonable dread at his words. As he closed the door behind him, she felt a hint of threat in the air.


	3. Sorting of the Mess

**Thank you to all who reviewed. Your feedback is well appreciated. **

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

* * *

The trio sat nervously in front of the large, closed doors of the Great Hall. This was perhaps more nerve-wracking than their first sorting. The three friends knew that the people in the Great Hall were eager to see the new, future transfers and even more interested still to question them. Through the large door, the three time-travellers could hear their soon-to-be classmates being explicitly warned not to ask too many questions about the future.

Phineas shook his white-blonde hair and threw his arms over his head in anxiety.

"I do NOT want to have to deal with my family in this time," he said, his face filled with pure dread, "I heard from Father that Abraxas, who I think is a seventh year with us, was, or is, a completely diabolical little bastard. I can't imagine anyone worse than Lucius, but apparently this chap is. And ugh all the blood purity shit is still going to be all rampant. I don't want to deal with that piss. This is going to be utterly miserable."

"Yeah, have fun with that, mate. I'm excited to meet the Weasley clan of 1943. Dumbledore said there were four roaming about the school," Hugo said, eagerness lighting up his blue eyes.

"Yeah, I have never met any other Potters so-" Lily began.

"Yeah, yeah, your families are great," Phineas said with an exasperated huff. He leaned his tall frame against the wall, visibly trying to calm himself down.

"You could always be placed somewhere other than Slytherin, Phineas," Lily reminded him, pulling a piece of lint from her jumper. Phineas scoffed at her.

"I happen to love my house and fit perfectly in it…These people just…add some things that I don't particularly agree with," Phineas said, looking distinctly annoyed at Lily's suggestion.

"Ah, yes and these _additional_ ideas weren't what Slytherin belie-" Hugo began before getting cut off by the doors being magicked open in front of them

" Oh Merlin, please no!" Phineas whispered, grabbing onto Lily's right arm. Lily chuckled and used her left to push strand of her mane back into place. After this motion, she put her left hand on Phineas' arm and pulled him into the hall with an attempt at a light-hearted laugh.

"Don't be such a coward, Malfoy." she said.

With great trepidation, the trio walked into the deathly quiet hall. Hundreds of eyes were trained on them as they strode in. When they got closer to the front of the hall, their names were called out by the Deputy-Headmaster Dumbledore.

"Malfoy, Phineas"

Phineas gave one last chagrined glance at his two comrades before placing himself on the stool and receiving the Sorting Hat on his head. After around fifteen seconds, the Sorting Hat called out the expected "SLYTHERIN!"

Phineas rose up gracefully and began his walk over to the Slytherin table, where a bit of reserved clapping could be heard. Lily looked after her handsome blonde friend with a smirk.

"Potter, Lily"

As Lily neared the stool, she stumbled a bit, earning a bit of amused laughter from the crowd. She herself turned a Weasley worthy shade of red as she sat on the stool and looked out into the student body. She had forgotten all about Tom Riddle, the Head Boy until that moment that she saw his eyes watching her with what appeared to be a disinterested expression. She felt the hat lightly touch her head before immediately shouting: "GRYFFINDOR!"

Even at the distance she was at, Lily could see a look of surprise from the Slytherin Head Boy. Lily knew had been sorted extremely fast. The same happened during her first sorting. She figured it was a result of being born of two of the most Gryffindor loving families. There was a bit of interested murmuring at this, though it was mostly drowned out by the defeaning cheers of the Gryffindor table.

Lily stood up from the stool and glanced at Dumbledore.

"My, my Miss Potter, that was the fastest sorting I've ever witnessed," said Dumbledore with a smile and a twinkle.

"I like Gryffindor," she said weakly, her face turning an even darker shade of crimson. Dumbledore gave her one more interested scan and smile and called:

"Weasley, Hugo"

As she made her way over to the Gryffindor table, she could hear the Hat call another "GRYFFINDOR!" She slowed her walk so that Hugo was right next to her as they looked for a place to sit amidst the raucous cheers of their Gryffindor peers.

The two cousins watched as the seventh-year Gryffindors parted to make a place for the two of them. After they had sat down, they looked up to view their classmates. All eyes at the table were trained on them in extreme abeit silent interest.

"Uh, hi, I'm Hugo Weasley and this is my cousin Lily Potter,. She is almost as amazing as I am," Hugo said awkwardly smiling, trying to cut the tension. The Gryffindors laughed and began to introduce themselves. Lily felt someone squeeze in next to her, so she turned to meet a set of dark blue eyes attached to a face that looked nearly identical to her father's and for that matter her brother Albus'. The only difference Lily could see in this boys face and her father and brother's at seventeen were a bit higher of cheekbones. The boy's hair was perhaps a shade lighter than her father's, though still deep enough of to be called 'dark-haired.'

"I'm Charlus Potter. I am very pleased to meet someone that must be my future grandchild…great grandchild?" the young man said, sticking his hand out to her with a grin. His eyes were sparkling merrily, like her father and brothers' did so often. Lily felt a twinge of home-sickness, but quickly squashed it down.

"Great-grandchild…I think. Charmed to meet you, Gramps" she said, placing her hand firmly into Charlus' with a wide smile. She noticed too that nearly everyone at the table was either listening intently on her conversation or to Hugo's. She honestly couldn't blame them.

"I'm sure we've met already in the future though, you see I don't plan on dying," he said in a very serious tone and a straight face.

"I am very sorry to be the one to tell you that you failed in your noble quest for immortality," she said grinning and helping herself to breakfast food in front of her.

"And that's your cousin?" Charlus asked, looking to Hugo who was excitedly discussing the Quidditch tryouts that were scheduled for the following Wednesday.

"Yes, my mother's name is Ginny Weasley."

"And that Malfoy bloke? Enemy you happened to travel with? I hope." Charlus asked interested.

Lily looked passed the Gryffindors' heads to see how Phineas was faring. From the expression on his face, she ventured to think not well. He seemed to be trapped next to whom she could only assume, by his white blonde hair, was the dreaded Abraxas Malfoy. Phineas's great-grandfather seemed to be chatting away to him without pausing for breath. Lily thought it almost looked like some sort of a lecture. Lily chuckled before replying: " He is our best friend."

Charlus let out a low whistle. "Well, priorities sure appear to have changed in the future, hopefully for the Malfoy family, not for the Potters."

Lily nodded and continued eating and talking with the Gryffindors. As she was handed her schedule, she saw that her first class of the day was Potions. Charlus looked very pleased at this, saying that he was also in Potions so it was very likely they would be partnered together.

"Alphabetical order has never been so wonderful. I have been partners with Priscilla Parkinson or Riddle for almost every class. You will certainly be a wonderful change, from those Slytherins" he said, stuffing a doughnut into his mouth.

* * *

When she walked into Potions, she was disappointed to see that Charlus was sitting glumly next to a dark haired girl with a pouty face and Slytherin robes.

"Sorry," he mouthed and turned to glare at the witch beside him, as though she had forced her way into Lily's place. Lily walked up, through the class towards Slughorn.

"Ah, Miss Potter! You will be happy to know that your partner will be Tom, brightest boy I have had the pleasure to meet. Alphabetical order, my dear! I assume you will be with Tom for nearly every class that way. How very lucky for you!" exclaimed Slughorn, with a cheery wink. Slughorn steered her over to the empty seat next to the Head Boy. As he left her there, she turned to her seated classmate. Lily looked him directly in the eyes, which, at a closer distance, she noticed were the deepest colour of grey imaginable. She hesitated a moment, caught in the mystery of his eyes. They were different than any she had seen. They seemed to reflect no light. Pulling herself back to the moment, she introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Lily Potter, we didn't really get properly introduced yesterday what with all the commotion," Lily said with a friendly smile, sticking her had out to the young man. Riddle met her smile and reached out to take her hand.

"Tom R-Riddle," his voice slipped from self-assured to very confused, his eyes narrowed in contact with the skin on her hand. Lily herself felt a strange jolt and found herself jerking her hand out of Riddle's. Riddle's dark eyes widened marginally and searched her face.

"I-uh-" Lily steadied herself from the uneasiness of the situation. She felt it was best to ignore it and continue on as if nothing had happened. "I wanted to thank you for helping take us to the Hospital Wing yesterday."

Riddle, seeming to catch on to her avoidance of the strange jolt, replied with a customary "You're very welcome, Miss Potter." before turning his eyes to the book he was reading.

Lily settled into her seat and tried to relax, but the nerve-endings in her hands were still tingling from the contact. She glanced at him, noticing how straight his posture was. Unnatural, was the first thing that came into her mind. The next thought was practised. But she quickly pushed the thoughts away as not fitting Riddle. He seemed effortlessly graceful in everything he did, even as he turned his page. She must have imagined it.

The door of the dungeon opened and Phineas walked in, very nearly late as usual. Slughorn directed him to his seat next to Abraxas and Lily swore she could hear him groan. His seat was directly in front of her own and she tried to cover her snigger as he turned around with a look of deepest anguish as Abraxas began to speak with him. Her muffled laugh caused Riddle to pause and look at her for the briefest instance, though she was too caught up in Phineas' discomfort to notice.

Slughorn began to speak, detailing the day's theoretical concepts on the board behind him. When his back was turned, Phineas faced her.

"You're lucky you are so pretty, Potter, or I'd murder you for that laugh." he whispered as his great-grandfather got caught up in Slughorn's beginning speech. Lily flicked her hair obnoxiously, earning her a quiet laugh and smirk from her friend before he turned back to the front. Tom Riddle's eyes watched their exchange silently.

Throughout the lesson, which today was just theory, she repeated _Tom Riddle _over and over again in her head. Trying desperately to remind herself who he was. _Tom Riddle . Was he some sort of brilliant potioneer? Had he invented self-stirring cauldrons? Written books of incredible magical merit? _She was copying notes furiously with her left hand. Her right covered her mouth to make sure she didn't accidentally say the name out loud. _Tom Riddle. _

She turned her head to sneak a glimpse of him. He was writing diligently, she noticed his strangely long fingers and the elegant script across the page. _Tom Riddle. _She looked at his name written clearly in beautiful hand at the top of his parchment. She stared at it. Looking at it on his paper, she felt reaffirmed in her knowledge that there definitely was something important about this name. _Tom Riddle. _

As class wrapped up, Lily shoved her book and parchment hurriedly into her bag. _Tom Riddle. _She glanced at his face, only to find that he was once again looking at her with a deep curiosity. Looking away from her, he placed his books neatly into his leather bag. It was then that Lily saw it. Tom Riddle had a black, leather-bound journal. A diary. In gold lettering, she saw the name _Tom Marvolo Riddle._ Her mother's face came into her head, the pictures of her as a young girl. _No, no, no._ She kept repeating in her head. Blocking out her thoughts. _I can think about this when I am alone. Not here in public._

Her heart began racing as she stood. Her hand clenched at her side. She felt unprotected, she felt vulnerable. Her Dad's voice was echoing in her head, telling her to be very careful. She withdrew her wand instinctively as she hauled her bag onto her shoulder. _Tom Riddle, Tom Marvolo Riddle. _She had to be alone. She had to think. She had to figure it out.

"Miss Potter?" came Riddle's voice softly.

"Yes?" she asked weakly, turning around to see the Head Boy only a small space from her. He reached out and touched her shoulder in what was meant to be a comforting gesture. He did not take his dark eyes from her sparkling blue ones.

"Are you alright? You just went very pale," he asked, his face held the expression of deepest concern, but as she stared into his eyes she saw only a vivid suspicion.

"Yes, yes, I just need some food," she said faintly, ripping her eyes from his demanding ones and walking quickly from the classroom.

Lily heard Phineas and Hugo call out to her as she found herself practically sprinting through the halls to the Gryffindor common room. She was grateful that when she burst into the room, it was conveniently deserted. She flung herself on the plush crimson couch and pulled a spare piece of parchment from her bag. She felt nauseous with fear as she put her quill to the page.

_Tom Marvolo Riddle_, she wrote after a moment's hesitation. And then with a wave of her wand, she watched the letters move. The _i_ in Riddle moved below the others and onto the far left of the page. As she saw the _a _and _m _quiver, she began, even more, to dread what she knew was about to see. Feeling inexplicably sickened, she closed her eyes for a moment to allow the letters rearrange into what she hoped would be something comical or glaringly ridiculous. Something, anything to prove her suspicion ludicrous.

She straightened her shoulders, took a deep, steadying breath, and opened her eyes. The sight of the parchment confirmed the worst.

_i am loRd voldeMorT_

Lily felt the air forced from her lungs. The world was swimming around in front of her eyes. She felt like she was underwater. Tom Riddle, Head Boy, the favourite of every teacher and student was Lord Voldemort. Her father's mortal enemy, her mother's childhood tormentor, the would-be destroyer of the Wizarding World, her potions partner.

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	4. Charms, Transfiguration and Revelations

A/N- Thanks very much to everyone who reviewed. I know that Minerva McGonagall is supposed to be about a year older than Tom Riddle, but I made her a year younger. Sorry if it angers anyone…

* * *

When Lily was fourteen, her brothers appeared in her room with a identical expressions of complete excitement. Together, they had found a way to open the troublesome cupboard in their parents room. What they found within it was a pensieve. The rune-etched basin, they knew, contained their father's memories.

The three Potter children could not help but be immensely curious about Lord Voldemort and his reign of terror. The destruction of those decades were still whispered about. They knew that their Dad had been the Chosen One after all, but they did not understand exactly what he had found himself chosen to do. They had heard about the battles in hushed tones from their loved ones. They had visited Uncle George's grave every so often, passed the plaque immortalizing those who died in the Battle of Hogwarts daily, heard about some of their father's misadventures with Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, but they couldn't quite grasp what had happened.

Together, they summoned all of their courage and peeped for the first time into their father's dark past. As Lily looked back on it, she wondered whether her father had not intended for them to see it all.

Lily, and her two brothers had followed Lord Voldemort as he murdered their young, wandless granddad James. They then watched as Voldemort turned his wand on grandma Lily, told her to move. They watched as Lily Potter begged for Voldemort to spare Harry. They saw her life torn away from her. Voldemort had approached the infant and made his fatal mistake. They had seen Voldemort ripped from his body and their infant father receive the famous scar upon his head. They had watched their father defeat Voldemort in his first year in the fight for the Philosopher's Stone. They had seen their father slay the basilisk and destroy the diary and save their mother. Lily had seen the handsome Heir of Slytherin dissolve in screams in the Chamber of Secrets.

The Potter children had watched as Peter Pettigrew murdered Cedric, took their father's blood and allowed Voldemort to rise again in the graveyard. They had seen their father's wand connect with the Dark Lord's and the ghost-like spirits surround Voldemort. They had watched the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Sirius Black's death. They had seen Voldemort possess their father and disappear.

The ring on Dumbledore's dead hand, the cave, Dumbledore's death, the battle that scarred their Uncle Bill. The destruction of the locket. Breaking into Gringott's, Hogwarts, Ron and Hermione destroying the cup, the diadem destroyed in the fiendfyre. Uncle Fred dead. Snape dead. Snape's memories. Dad marching to his death, the snitch opening, his parent's and mentors at his side. Dad hit by the killing curse. Voldemort triumphant . Hagrid carrying Dad. The screams of denial. Professor Longbottom with the burning sorting hat. The Battle recommencing. The final horcux destroyed. Grandma killing Bellatrix. Grandma almost killed by Voldemort. Dad giving Tom Riddle a chance for remorse. Tom Riddle falling dead.

And from that day on, Lily Potter found her greatest fear to be everything in which Lord Voldemort embodied. She feared the evil and the senseless destruction that came with it, and to her that was wrapped up in the mythical figure of Lord Voldemort. And that was what she feared most.

* * *

If Lily Potter was not a Gryffindor to her very core, if she was not the daughter of the Dark Lord's vanquisher, if she was not raised by a fiery Weasley mother, she would never have been able to enter her Charms Class and sit, as directed, next to a teenaged Dark Lord. Lily barely shivered in disugst as said Dark Lord gave her his best smile, complete with a barely concealed curiosity smouldering in his eyes. Tom Riddle's eyes reflected no light, but seemed able to generate their own from somewhere within.

Lily pulled her eyes away from the future Dark Lord's and focused on Professor Filbuster's introduction to complex healing charms. The class would be using dummies that magically assessed how well the healing charm was performed. When hit with the spell, Filbuster explained, the dummies would react as a normal damaged human would. As she assessed the dummy before her, Lily thought about how she would tell Phineas and Hugo about their Lord Voldemort situation. She turned over it over in her mind as she waved her wand above the wounded dummy, murmuring the incantations and healing the wounds with little evidence of their former existence. She thought it would probably be best to just show tell them point blank, perhaps after their classes for the day were over. Hugo had a temperament very close to her Uncle Ron and was fiercely protective of her, especially in the absence of her big brothers. He would need extra time to adjust to their situation…

"Merlin's beard, Miss Potter! That was brilliant! I have never seen a student catch on to an advanced charm so quickly. It seems you're a natural healer, just like our brilliant Mr. Riddle here," exclaimed the Professor cutting into her reverie. Filibuster eyed her work with excitement. Lily smiled, a bit embarrassed at the praise and glanced to her left where Charlus Potter gave her a proud look and a thumbs up.

"Good work, Miss Potter," came the velvety voice of Tom Riddle. Lily felt the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she turned toward him and plastered on a charming smile onto her face.

"Not so bad your self, Mr. Riddle!" Lily replied, trying to imagine the boy next to her simply as an extremely talented student and not the devil himself. The dummy on the desk in front of Riddle became badly mangled once more and with seemingly little effort, Riddle healed the wounds. This pattern went on throughout the class. The dummies would become severely injured in some way, and the students would fix them. She and Riddle practically doubled the amount of times they healed their dummies as compared with the rest of their classmates.

Lily was broken from her pattern when she heard Tom Riddle rustling next to her. He was putting away his books, meaning they were nearing the end of the lesson. Lily began to follow suit. As she sat waiting for the official end of class, Lily eyed the well-healed dummy laying in front of the raven-haired boy and tried to fight the _extremely _inappropriate urge to laugh. Mr. I'm-Going-To-Destroy-And Mangle-Everything-In-My-Path-Because-I-Am-Lord-Voldemort was a natural at _healing_.

As she continued pushing items into her bag, an irrational laughter continued to well up inside her. _Oh God! Oh God! Don't laugh. Don't laugh, you idiot. He is going to suspect you. _Lily scrunched her face up and held her breath. As she tried desperately to compose herself, she felt Tom Riddle's eyes on her again.

"Are you quite alright, Miss Potter?" Riddle asked in a voice edged with wariness.

Perhaps it was the strain of the week finally catching up with her, perhaps it was the reality of her predicament finally hitting her, but at Riddle's question she burst into a bout of uncontrollable laughter. Grasping the table with one hand and placing the other over her mouth to stifle herself, Lily shook with silent laughter. She could feel her face burning red as she tried to hold it in.

Riddle was intently focused on her, he seemed to be observing a rare and most fascinating natural occurence. Lily could feel his eyes boring into her, and that only made her laughter become a bit more audible.

"Lily! What's so funny?" asked Charlus in whisper. Lily turned her face to glance at him, still giggling. Lily was never so grateful for a class to end. Lily practically ran out of the classroom, for the second time that day. She leaned against the wall roaring with laughter, waiting for Hugo and Phineas. Lily could feel her classmates stopping to look at her as they filed out of the classroom.

"Bloody hell, Lily! Way to look like a nutter in there!" Hugo said, grabbing her arm with a shake of his red-hair. Phineas joined them a moment later, staring at the laughing Lily with disdain.

"Honestly, Potter, do you mind? You are really beginning to make me question my friendship with such a-Lils? Lily are you alright?" Phineas' expression changed rapidly from false derision to veiled worry. He had clearly seen the panic beneath her laughter. Lily was silent for a moment.

"We have a problem," she whispered. "I'll tell you all about it after class today."

"Why can't you tell us now?" asked Hugo, his eyes lighting up with confusion and dread. Lily paused, thinking about her options.

"It's-Let's just wait until afterwards. It's nothing we have to worry about right-I'll just tell you later," she stuttered.

"If you say so Lils…Anyways, did you know that there is an opening for both keeper and seeker this year?" Hugo asked, his smile wide as they began their trek to transfiguration.

"Really! When are tryouts exactly? Is it normal yet for girls to be on the team?" Lily was an excellent seeker, something inherited from both of her parents' exceptional quidditch skills. Her mother even played professionally for several years. As they chatted about trivial matters, vileness of the Slytherin Head Boy was pushed from her mind.

"I can't believe we are going to experience a class taught by _Albus Dumbledore_!" Hugo exclaimed with a glazed look in his eyes.

"Merlin, you sound exactly like your mum," Lily said with a chuckle, thinking of her Aunt Hermione, "But honestly it will be unreal, this whole thing is…strange."

"I am just honestly hoping against hope that I will not have to sit with that bloody arrogant prat again," sighed Phineas.

"Not liking the great-granddad, Malfoy?" asked Hugo, ruffling his friend's white-blonde hair with a wide grin.

"No, he's a right evil bastard that one. I thought Lucius was bad but he would look like an intelligent, kind man compared with this buffoon," complained Phineas.

Laughing heartily, the trio entered the Transfiguration classroom where their names could be seen floating over their seats. Lily let out a sigh of relief, she was partners with Charlus Potter and there was an entire aisle of space between herself and Tom Riddle.

Lily let out a sigh of relief. Beside her, Phineas let out a stream of words that exactly fit her mood:

"Oh thank Merlin! Oh thank you, God. Oh this is wonderful!" Phineas was ecstatic, his seat was not next to the dreaded Abraxas, but instead next to a dark-haired witch. Lily could not see her face as she watched her best friend sit next to her. After sitting in her own seat, Lily began chatting away with Charlus.

"Wow, a seeker, huh. I mean, I haven't heard of a girl being on one of the team for the past few decades! Are you really good?" he gushed, clearly excited.

"I think…well I made it my second-"

"Whoa, second year? That's phenomenal! I guess I should expect it what with the Potter blood flowing through your veins," Charlus said flashing a falsely stuck-up smile. Lily laughed heartily and put on her own mock-arrogant face.

"Yeah, my dad was the youngest player in over a century. _He_ got in when he was a first year," Charlus' smile widened, "But Mum went pro."

"Your mum sounds like my kind of gal," Charlus said, clearly impressed, "Speaking of-"

The conversation was cut short as Professor Dumbledore arrived in the front of the classroom. His auburn hair really threw Lily off. In all of the pictures she had seen, Lily had always seen him white-haired and much older. Looking around jovially, he welcomed them to N.E.W.T. level Transfiguration and quickly got them started on advanced human transfiguration. As decent as Lily was at Charms, she considered transfiguration and, of course, DADA to be her best and favourite classes. Lily and Charlus decided to start off slow with simple hair transformations and work their way up to facial reconstruction by the end of the lesson.

Throughout the class, Lily found herself telling Charlus some over her childhood stories and he in turn told her some of his own. Lily found herself excited at the prospect of meeting Charlus' parents, her great-greatgrandparents.

Dumbledore flitted about the class giving wide smiles and encouragement to all of his students. By the end of the class period, Lily and Charlus had faces completely unlike their own and were laughing at them in their conjured mirrors. Lily transformed her eyebrow into a unibrow to Charlus' utmost delight.

As the class ended, she pulled away from the other Potter, and began walking with Phineas and Hugo. Phineas, Lily noticed immediately, had a strange far-off look in his eyes. She was about to question him when her cousin beat her to it.

"You doing alright there, Phin?" asked Hugo, eyeing his friend in interest.

"I just-I-um-yeah. I am alright," stuttered Phineas, shifting his bag higher of his shoulder. He was clearly uncomfortable, even a bit sickly looking.

"You sure, mate? You look kinda pale…" insisted Hugo.

"Uh, I just was partners with a girl named McGonagall, Minerva McGonagall…" Phineas said.

"Really? I just saw her last week when she came over for her weekly tea session with Mum!" Hugo said eagerly. Phineas made no reply. Hugo looked at him strangely and continued, "So, Lils, are you going to tell us what's going on?"

"Let's get to the Room of Requirement, I'll tell you in there where we can't be overheard," said Lily anxiously, leading the way. The trio hurried silently to the room, fighting against the tides of staring people who were heading back to their common rooms after their last class. Once they got to the blank wall, Lily let the need for a private place overwhelm her until the door appeared. The room was quite cozy with a large fireplace and two comfy-looking purple couches. The trio settled down on the couches.

"Alright, so what is this huge problem we've run into," asked Phineas, looking at the girl with a curious expression.

"Oh, you know, just an ordinary student who likes to occasionally go by the nickname Lord Voldemort," Lily said in a would-be nonchalant voice. The boys exchanged a horrified look.


	5. Reveries

**A/N- I know this took forever and a half and I apologize from the bottom of my heart. Enjoy!**

* * *

It was around midnight when Tom Riddle found himself pacing the third floor corridor lost deep within his own thoughts. Throughout his years as a prefect, and now as Head Boy, he had found himself enjoying his time spent patrolling the Hogwarts corridors. Though it was rare that his presence was needed to catch rule breakers, the time provided him with time to reflect and more importantly to plan his future. Tom felt that there was and inherent power in being awake later and earlier than most of his peers.

Since the arrival of the time travellers three days before, Tom's mind had been put into hyperdrive. As he paced the corridor, Tom thought on his future. From what he could tell, the arrival of these individuals to 1943 gave him a unique opportunity to change the trajectory of his life. With their information, he may be able to remedy blunders that he would otherwise made. He began to think up some of the possible alternatives to his future: that he would succeed and become the greatest sorcerer of all time or that he would end up dead by his own experiments. There were a million possibilities, though for Tom, it was difficult to imagine a future where he was not in power.

Tom hated not knowing what another knew, hated the disadvantage inherent in his situation with the newcomers. It left the control with someone or something other than himself which was utterly unacceptable. The obvious choice to find out about his future was the witch. Tom's skills in the art of charming both young and older women had not failed him yet. He could tell that Lily Potter would, perhaps, be a bit harder to charm than most of the other women at Hogwarts. She was clearly not a simpering fool, ready to trust any man with a charming smile and a few cheap lines. But still, he felt confident that he would win out in the end. He, after all, had never lost a battle of wills, or any other battle for that matter.

Riddle knew that the rest of the male population at Hogwarts collectively decided that the mysterious, time-travelling Lily Potter was undeniably gorgeous. Of course, to most of the Slytherin men, the name Potter and Weasley were so closely entwined with _blood-traitor_ and _muggle-lover_ as to nearly negate their initial attractions to her. Yes, the obvious good looks of the three time travellers had been routinely discussed in passing periods, in whispered classroom conversations, at meals and everywhere else in the castle. Girls were swooning over both the Malfoy and Weasley men and the boys over Lily Potter. Riddle begrudgingly agreed that her looks were quite extraordinary, though very different to those girls that usually preferred. Her beautiful hair was not a startling orange or even a rich auburn, but a deep red, close to the color of blood. And her hair was wild, wavy and untamed. It reminded Tom horribly of a lion's mane.

Tom had to admit himself a bit unnerved by Lily Potter. A strange feeling arose whenever he looked the Gryffindor girl in the eyes. She had damnably beautiful eyes, too. They were a peculiar shade of blue and when he had been close enough to see clearly into them, he had noticed the strands of striking dark emerald that danced along the iris. There was a constant twinkle in her eye, rather similar to the sparkle in the old coot's eyes. And like Albus Dumbledore's, Lily's eyes were hypnotic, even to Tom Riddle. He found it highly unacceptable for her to hold any power over him, especially in something so simple as her glance. It was a power that Tom would not allow her to possess for long.

Beyond that, the Potter girl's mere presence was disarming. And the whole laughing fit at the end of Charms was simply disturbing to him. Her infantile hysteria had come out a nowhere. There had clearly been a root to the laughter, though try as he might to deduce this cause, he could not figure it out. Of course, Gryffindors were infamous for being especially mentally imbalanced, if not completely insane. Tom had been forced to witness their idiocy which they mistook for valour and their pointless principles and morals on a daily basis. It was pathetic and weak, and Tom despised weakness to his very core. But that laughter, that hysteria...it had surprised him. Tom was rarely surprised.

The girl was rather tiny, barely reaching his shoulder (Her height was continuously emphasized by the tallness of both her cousin and the Malfoy boy). Her small stature and beauty were dangerous, they gave most the impression that she was not as powerful as she actually was, not as dangerous. Tom could recognize this, because everyone, his Death Eaters and Dumbledore in exception, made this same mistake in regards to him. It was so difficult for most people to see beyond the outward appearance of things. Tom did not want to make this mistake. Lily Potter had proved herself an extremely powerful in class, that was without question. Tom knew he would do well to remember her skill and intelligence when confronting her in the future.

"Tommy! I have been searching _everywhere_ for you," a bubblegum voice came, interupting his reverie. Tom looked down the corridor and felt a shiver of irritation as he saw the vapid Head Girl coming toward him with what she clearly considered an alluringly flirtatious smile on her pug-like face.

"That is strange, considering you should be patrolling the ground floor as you have been assigned. Perhaps you have forgotten?" Tom said, attempting to keep the irritation out of his voice. Tom tightened his grip on his wand, before shoving it into his pocket to avoid the serious temptation of cursing the girl's hair off.

"But Tommy, I wanted to come see you. I got so bored down there all alone." she whined, batting her eyes in a ridiculous way. Tom's stomach turned with disgust and barely concealed annoyance. He could feel his patience slipping. His hand itched for his wand to curse the simpering smile off of DeCorno's unbecoming face.

"Amber, it is part of our duty as the Head students of this school to patrol the corridors and make sure that curfews are obeyed and the students remain safe against trespassers." Tom replied, clenching his jaw in annoyance. He knew it would be no use, and it wasn't. For the rest of the two hour patrol, DeCorno chattered away to Tom on such inane subjects as to make any man go insane.

Amber DeCorno had to go, Tom could no longer tolerate her presence. Tom knew that it was only a donation of galleons that had persuaded Dippet to appoint the girl. Tom was confident that he could persuade Professor Dippet to reconsider Amber's position at the school in favour of one who would be much more useful to Tom and, Merlin-willing, less predictably irritating.

* * *

Lily Potter had been raised with two older brothers and a head auror for a father, in other words, she was well acquainted with having over protective men hovering. It was for this reason that Phineas Malfoy and Hugo Weasley were cautious in expressing their protective feelings for Lily. Both boys had experienced the terrifying wrath of her fiery Weasley temper many a time, mostly after expressing a dislike for a boyfriend or even hinting at her being incapable of taking care of herself. It was for these reasons that the two friends had decided to meet up after hours in the Room of Requirement to discuss the fact that Lord Voldemort was running around merrily around Hogwarts unchecked.

"Alright, I'll start then- we obviously cannot let her sit next to him," Hugo said, crossing his arms. His features settled into the Weasley face of stubbornness as he glared at his best friend, daring him to disagree. Phineas sighed in exasperation: Hugo's fierce protectiveness of Lily was always an obstacle to his rational thinking. Though Hugo was exceptionally bright like his famous mother, he had inherited his father's fiery disposition and impulsive nature. Unfortunately, this nature tended to override any skills of basic cunning and slyness that the Gryffindor possessed.

"What are we going to walk up to the professors and ask them to make an exception to alphabetical order for Lily? All that will do is attract Riddle's attention to her!" Phineas said passionately, leaning in towards his best friend. Hugo glared at him.

"She's already attracting his attention. You should have seen Riddle in class. He kept looking at her, throughout the entire lesson. Lily's oblivious though and I thought it was-you know- because of her looks or that she was from the future. I thought it was innocent." said Hugo.

"It's probably because she's pretty and-" started Phineas, waving his hand in dismissal.

"You are kidding right." Hugo cut in, his face filled with disbelief, "This is Lord Voldemort we are talking about, not some uh horny seventeen-year-old wizard! If he was staring at her, it was because he is becoming interested in her for other reasons. He's plotting! That's what her does! We have to keep her away from him!"

Hugo's face rapidly turned red with frustration as his blue eyes burned into his best friend's light grey ones. Phineas refused to be swayed and holding himself a little taller he continued: "Hugo, you are being ridiculous. We have to maintain, at very least, the appearance of not knowing who Tom Riddle actually becomes. We have the upper hand at this point and we need to play it by staying calm!"

"STAYING CALM!" Hugo roared, disbelief written on his freckled face, " Lord-Fucking-Voldemort is my baby cousin's potion's partner! Not to mention her charms partner and who know what else! Perhaps you didn't know, Malfoy, but Lord Voldemort and the Potter family are kind of mortal enemies."

"He is seventeen! He does not know the future. He doesn't know who Lily is, nor does he have any idea that her father was his downfall. We need to be rational about this, like Tom Riddle will be!" hissed Phineas, his usually calm demeanor beginning to evaporate. Hugo and Lily were the only ones he had ever lost his sense of cool with.

"Yeah, that makes sense! Let's be like TOM RIDDLE! What a brilliant idea!" shouted Hugo, throwing his hands up.

"Damn it, Weasley! You know what I meant!" Phineas hissed back, his pale cheeks becoming tinged with red in frustration. Hugo looked back at him stubbornly, but nodded for him to continue "We need to think like the enemy and we need to keep a cool head and play this out correctly. One mistake and we, not to mention the wizarding world, will be in serious trouble."

Hugo opened his mouth several times, his temper visibly fading from his countenance. He leaned back, closing his eyes as the thoughtful silence settled between he and his best friend. Phineas fiddled with the hem of his robes, also lost in thought.

Both were dreading the fact that Tom Riddle had to be actively dealt with. The fact that they were the only ones with the knowledge of the future and the ability to thwart his plans, and perhaps even kill him if need be. Hugo looked up at his friend.

"Alright, I will try to do this 'rationally'. But Lily can't be involved," Hugo said, looking intently at his blonde friend. Phineas sighed, shaking his head.

"She will murder us if she finds out, but... I agree."

* * *

The Gryffindor common room offered Lily the same comfortable warm feeling in the centre of her stomach that she associated with home. The rich reds and decadent golds which covered every inch of the fire lit room were also abundant in every room of her own home... the home she would never get back to again. At that thought, her blue eyes began to pool with tears. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Lily attempted to push the thoughts of home out of her mind. She had decided on the first few days in the hospital wing, that she would try to be strong enough, at least until she had dealt with their situation, to push out the consuming homesickness which would surely descend upon her.

The common room was mostly abandoned. As she took her usual place next to the roaring fire, Lily noticed several fourth years huddled on the couch across the room, shooting her looks and whispering. Lily, of course, couldn't blame them. She knew that if some random time-travellers joined Hogwarts in her time, she would also be extremely curious. So far, she, Phineas and Hugo had been lucky and had not been bombarded with questions. Lily had a feeling that this would soon stop as their peers felt a bit more comfortable around them.

Lily sighed and leaning her head back against the squashy chair, she closed her eyes. Images from the last few days filled her mind, especially the placid expression on the handsome face of Tom Marvolo Riddle. And his eyes. Lily had never seen such eyes. Eyes whose stormy dark grey seemed to reflect no light but burn from within. She knew that one day, if left to his own devices, Tom Riddle's eyes would burn a deep ruby. The red colour that she had seen in her father's memories and that she sometimes saw in muddled nightmares.

Lily knew that they had to stamp out Lord Voldemort in this time at the root. The world could not risk a fall into his legendary brand of darkness and destruction. This time around, there was no guarantee that the light would triumph. Indeed, it was with a tortuously painful thought that Lily realized that it was highly unlikely that Harry James Potter would even be born in this new time-stream. At that thought, Lily's eyes began to prickle with insistent tears.

Lily had no idea how they were going to go about ridding the world of Lord Voldemort. He was already very well-versed in the Dark Arts and likely much more powerful . Lily was almost certain that he had already made at least one horcrux and committed the triple murder of his muggle father and grandparents. Not to mention, poor Myrtle was already a ghost because of his choices.

So as Lily saw it, she had two routes: reform Tom Riddle or murder him. She wasn't look forward to attempting either.

* * *

"Why do you reckon half the hall is staring at us?" asked Hugo Weasley, his mouth filled with blueberry muffin. Phineas looked at him in utter disgust for a moment before replying.

"Hugo, need I remind you that I happen to be a Slytherin and that this happens to be 1943?" Phineas said, looking around at the other students, "My sitting at this table is being regarded as a traitorous act by most of the Slytherins and I think everyone else is just rather confused. The Gryffindor/Slytherin rivalry goes far beyond quidditch games."

"Speaking of quidditch" Hugo said, effectively ignoring everything else Phineas had said. Lily and Phineas exchanged amused looks "The tryouts are on Friday. Meaning, Lily, we only have a few days to get brooms and practise."

"Do you know what spots are open?"

"Yeah, Charlus said keeper, a chaser and seeker are open."

"Sweet!" Lily exclaimed merrily.

"Slytherin tryouts are this Thursday, so I need a broom as well. I think Dumbledore will grant us special permission for a trip to Diagon Alley this week."

"Yeah, I need to get some new clothes and books. Everything that we have received is serviceable but I need muggle clothes for time out of school," Lily replied, the boys nodded before falling into a comfortable silence as they ate their breakfast meal.

Across the Hall from where they sat at the Gryffindor table, Lily noticed Tom Riddle engaged in a deep conversation with several Professors. Every few moments, they seemed to be laughing heartily at the things he said. Lily could see right through Riddle's charming laugh and modest smile, and it made her stomach turn watching the adults be sucked in to the lie that was Tom Riddle.

"It really is disgusting the way they fawn all over him, isn't it?" Lily said, watching the Slytherin table with obvious disgust as she stabbed at her bacon angrily. "How the hell can they fall for that?"

"Well, I mean, he is a genius, isn't he?" Phineas answering with a despairing sigh, leaning towards the red heads across from him. He had been getting intense glares all morning for his choice of seating at the Gryffindor table.

"Merlin, don't go all Death Eater on us, mate," said Hugo in between enormous bites of porridge. His blue eyes sparkling with humour, his face arranged in a very serious expression.

Phineas glared back at him. "Shut up, Hugo, you know what I'm saying. They will be fawning all over Lily soon-"

"I'm sorry but I thought I just heard you compare me to You-Know-Who! And teachers don't fawn over me," Lily protested, her eyes flashing with annoyance at Phineas.

"You charm the hell out of everyone, Lils, without trying," Phineas replied, raising his eyebrows cheekily at her horrified expression.

"I do not! And for the record, I have been and will never been the insufferable suck-up that he-" Lily began to hiss at her blonde friend, before getting cut off.

"Yeah, and you aren't as good a student so he clearly wasn't say-"

"Thanks, Hugo! If I wanted, I could be a good-"

"Sure, sure the point is Riddle is ridiculously talented, an impeccable student and a-"

"Manipulative bastard," Lily offered, taking a fierce bite out of her buttered toast. Hugo snorted causing him to cough on his sip of milk. Several students turned to stare at him in interest. A roguish grin appeared on Lily's face as she watched her blonde friend. "You know, it kind of sounds like someone's got a bit of a crush. I sit next to him in most classes, Phineas, I could put in a good word for you if-"

"Fine. I won't say anymore then," Phineas interrupted looking distinctly frustrated.

"Oh Phinny, I'm so sorry!" Lily exclaimed, batting her eyes and grasping his hands in a faux-earnestness, "You must know how much I love you. Please, please, forgive me, it was just jealousy. I will never hurt you again!"

Phineas' face lit up with mirth and laughter which died rather abruptly as he looked over her shoulder. Seeing Phineas quickly arrange his face into neutral expression. Lily tensed before hearing the velvety voice of Tom Riddle.

"Miss Potter, could I speak to you for a moment, please?"

All humour left Lily as she turned to meet the dark eyes looking down at her in a fake pleasant way. She hesitated for a moment before nodding. She grabbed her bag and gave a desperate look at her cousin and friend. Phineas gave her a look that clearly begged her to be careful. Hugo, on the other hand, looked as though he was going to explode. His face was beet red, and he was clearly restraining himself from cursing Tom Riddle.

Riddle was already leading the way out of the hall, his dark robes flowing behind him in an effortlessly majestic way. Lily glared at his back, damning his false perfection, even in simple tasks like walking, as she stumbled out the door to follow him.

They walked for about a minute in silence, before he turned around to face her. As he did so, Lily noticed, not for the first time, how incredibly good-looking Tom Riddle was. His face had perfectly sharp features and a strong jaw. His ink-black hair, which stood out in sharp contrast to his pure white skin, was expertly magicked into place. Yes, his hair was quite the opposite of Lily's which, like her father's, was utterly resistant to any attempt at control. His physical perfection irritated and disgusted her. It was just another means given to him to be able to manipulate and control his fellow human beings, and she knew that he took advantage of that fact daily. She was quite sure that he was attempting to use it against her at this very moment. Bastard.

"Now, Miss Potter, Professor Dippet has been informed of your, ah, impressive performance in your classes, and as such, would like to extend to you some of the duty of Head Girl onto you. Basically this includes a portion of the patrolling and planning." Riddle said, his sharp eyes surveying her reaction. Lily immediately opened her mouth and closed it several times.

"Why am I being offered this? I have only been in this-er-time for like a week. I have been in classes for one day," Lily asked, her eyes not leaving his. Tom caught the hint of suspicion in her voice and found it intriguing.

"The Headmaster is rather disappointed with Miss DeCorno's performance as Head Girl and seems to want to phase her out," he said.

"Amber has only been Head Girl for what, a week? That doesn't really make any sense…" she insisted.

Tom felt a prickle of annoyance, he hated when people, especially a girl like Potter, questioned him.

"You will have to discuss your questions with the Headmaster, I am merely the messenger in all of this. Though he did seem very intent on giving you full Head Girl privilages by the end of the week. He even suggested I warn you that you should be prepared to move into the Head Dormitories by the week's end," he said, inclining his head and giving her his most convincing look of modest acquiescence. Tom noted the brief flash of disgust which appeared on the Potter girl's face. His curiosity and anger were peaked at this fleeting expression: could she tell that he was lying?

Students had begun to file out of the Great Hall and head toward their various classes. Through the hustle and bustle of the exiting students, Lily saw a great shaggy mane of black hair and massive shoulders which could only belong to one person.

"HAGRID!" Lily shouted. Next to her, Tom Riddle raised an eyebrow as he watched the red-head sprint down to where the fourteen-year-old Hagrid stood. Lily stared up at him, excitement coursing through her veins. Here was the first person that she knew from her time that she had actually come to interact with.

Lily's first thought as she searched his face was that it was so strange to see a beardless Hagrid. She thought the man and the beard with synonymous. Hagrid's beetle black eyes were the same as ever, though. Lily silently hoped that if she slowly became a friend of Hagrid, they could resume their bi-weekly meetings for tea and scones. Some little scrap of normalcy was possible, now that Hagrid had showed himself.

" 'Lo Miss.

"Good morning, Hagrid!" Lily said brightly, her smile spreading even wider as she craned her neck to see his face. Lily thrust her hand up so Hagrid could shake it as she said "I'm Lily, Lily Potter."

"M'name Hagrid, but I'm guessin' you know that," he said looking down at Lily with a confused youthful smile.

"Hagrid would you please sit with my friends and me at lunch?"

Hagrid's face lit up with sudden excitement and understanding. "Do yeh know me in the future Miss?"

"It's Lily, and yes I do. You're a very close family friend, you are uh-well you're my cousin Hugo and my godfather. He'll be very excited to see you!" Lily answered with a grin. At her words, Hagrid's face turned red as he began to notice all of the face turned towards their conversation.

"I'd like that," replied the half-giant, shuffling his feet and walking with Lily down the hall.

* * *

**A/N- Hey thanks to everyone who has been reviewing! I really hate the last part with Hagrid. I can't seem to get it right.**


	6. Quidditch, Love Potions and Clumsiness

A/N- Thank you so much to BitterBlack7, hushpuppy22, AvalonChick19, irishxpixie, and Lola121192 for your reviews!

Noir Lime Canuto- Hagrid has been expelled from Hogwarts, however, he is being trained as the gamekeeper. Dumbledore had enough influence to help give Hagrid that opportunity to stay on the grounds.

hushpuppy22- I'm glad you are liking it. I'll try to keep up the good work! Enjoy this chapter.

AvalonChick19 and irishxpixe- I know! I really wish people would write more stories about them. I think they could be, and hopefully will be, a great couple to write into a story.

* * *

As far as Divination went, Lily had been shocked to get an Exceeds Expectations on her OWLs results. Though giving little credence to the science, Lily felt she had enough talent to 'See' a bit, but she mostly thought the grade came from an ability to bull shit enough to get by admirably. This was the only class that Lily would be facing without being accompanied by two best friends and fellow time travellers. Hugo had, indeed taken the class his third year with Lily, however he left in an angry huff when Professor Trelawney had predicted his death within the fortnight. It was now, or at least...it had been... an inside joke of the family comparing Hugo to his mother who had stormed out in a similar fashion in her third year.

As for Lily, she thought that as the daughter of a prophesised hero, she had to at least give it the tiniest bit of respect. Apparently, it wasn't all quackery. So there she was on her long trek up to the Divination room only to be rewarded by heavily perfumed air that made her gag. She was disgusted that the smoke seemed customary for the class, not just Professor Trelawney as she had formerly suspected. As soon as Lily stepped into the classroom, she felt rather drowsy, drunk even. Perhaps, this perfume contained some kind of intoxicating agent that helped in divination. All Lily knew was that it gave her a bloody miserable headache and she'd rather it be done away with.

As she walked up through the classroom, Lily was surprised to see a very normal looking, slightly handsome male professor standing at the centre of the classroom giving out instructions to each student on where to sit. As expected, Lily had been partnered with the dreaded Tom Riddle. She sighed deeply as she approached her seat on a squashy purple loveseat. Sitting down, she looked across to the Head Boy, who, seeing her, inclined his head in the slightest of nods. He was already elegantly seated on a large blue chair across from her. Her salutary smile faltered as she mentally compared his posture to how one would sit on a throne. Disgust filled her as his future misdeeds flashed through her mind. Lily saw his eyes narrow almost imperceptibly at her expression; Lily looked away, pretending be extremely interested in the other students filtering into the classroom.

Once all the students were seated in their appropriate places. The professor, who introduced himself as Professor Trimble, waved his wand majestically and floated a large crystal ball to each partner group. Lily watched in annoyance as the ball floated and hovered in between her and Tom Riddle. The lesson consisted of attempting to read the future of one's partner in the ball. Very cliché, very boring Lily thought staring silently into it's depths.

Several minutes passed in silence, as Lily and the future Dark Lord tried to read each other's futures. Lily was beginning to feel extremely drowsy as she stared blankly into the depths of the crystal ball. Suddenly, she began to see a shape distinguishing itself from the rest of the smoke. She watched as it began to swirl into a hoop, into a ring. With a dark stone. Her stomach began to churn and she wrenched her eyes from the fog, trying to concentrate on something other than the potential horcrux Lily had just seen within the depths of the crystal. A moment passed as she tried to calm herself down.

"I have heard a rumour concerning your intentions to try out for the Gryffindor quidditch team," Riddle stated, glancing up from the crystal ball to Lily who jumped at the sound of his voice. Lily was surprised at the statement. She knew that the school had been abuzz about her decision to try-out, however, she figured that Tom Riddle would care very little for such mundane news. This statement meant one of two things: Tom Riddle was simply trying to charm the hell out of her, like all the other students, or it was a confirmation of what she had been dreading: Tom Riddle wanted to milk her for information.

"Yeah, back…in the future...er…I was a seeker," Lily pushed out awkwardly, glancing briefly into his inquisitive dark eyes.

"In this...era, not many women play quidditch. I assume that will change in the future?" he asked, appearing to be highly disinterested.

"Yeah, women on the house teams are very common in my time. In fact, my mother was a pro for several years," Lily said.

"A professional female quidditch player? How very progressive," he said flashing a charming smile that revealed perfectly straight, perfectly white teeth across to her.

"Yes, well, it isn't so progressive in my time. After all, it's nearly a century after this time," Lily said simply, ignoring Tom Riddle's obvious attempts to charm her. A moment or two passed and the students continued gazing into the crystal ball.

"I suppose a great many things we do here seem archaic to you?" asked Riddle, looking interestedly at the red-head beside him.

"Not really things you _do_ persay… but many of this era's _ideas_ are shockingly outdated." she said wrinkling her nose slightly, thinking about the seriously misguided notions about blood purity. Lily knew that those ideas infiltrated every aspect of the Ministry's and perhaps even Hogwarts' bureaucracy. It was her own Aunt Hermione, father and uncles who helped to rebuild the British wizarding world that had been destroyed by its own terrible prejudices.

"Ah, and which ideas would those be," he asked, interest peaked once more.

"Among the first that springs- -" Lily was abruptly cut off at Professor Trimble urging them to still their mouths and look deeper into the vortex of destiny.

"What ideas are outdated?" asked Riddle as they continued their exercise. Lily studied his face for a moment, wondering whether she should reveal this tidbit of information on the future to Tom Marvolo Riddle. Perhaps if it was revealed it would help him to understand the absurdity of his beliefs, though she very much doubted it.

"All these ridiculous notions of blood purity," she said, maintaining solid eye contact with the future Dark Lord and murderer of muggles. "Prejudice like that is revoltingly medieval."

Tom Riddle said nothing, but looked away from her shortly and watched the crystal ball in front of him. Though he was attempting to hide it, Lily saw that the cogs in the Head Boy's mind were moving as he thought on her information. For several minutes, the partners stared into the crystal ball, watching the whirling white fog make indistinct shapes. Lily could no longer see the ring that had given her the thrill of fright minutes before.

"The fact that I'm in this class is utterly ridiculous," Lily said, breaking the silence, poking the crystal ball with her index finger.

"I disagree, Divinations is about uncovering one's personal future and sorting through to understand and triumph over possible adversities in one's destined path. Though you know the future course the world may have taken, you do _not_ know the current trajectory of history, nor do you know what will be thrown into you personal path," Tom said, keeping his eyes trained on the crystal ball in front of him. Lily felt a shiver as her father's prophesy echoed in her mind. When explaining the prophesy, her father had emphasised the fact that Lord Voldemort had made a choice to follow the prophesy. If nothing was done, Harry Potter would not have been given the means to destroy the Dark Lord. The boy in front of her had given credence to divination and met his downfall in it.

"Well, I bloody well hate staring into glass spheres for an hour. It gives me a pounding migraine coupled with the godforsaken smoke clouding my lungs," she whined under her breath, pretending to ignore his statements, "Not to mention that the walk up here is such a pain in the ass."

Tom Riddle blinked at her for a moment. Perhaps, she thought, she should tone the language down a bit. He clearly had delicate sensibilities.

"Yes, it is rather long and hard," said Riddle distractedly, clearly not caring for this turn in the conversation. Lily wondered for a moment how people couldn't see through his surface to the boy who was clearly bored with most of what people said or too busy manipulating to give a damn about anyone else. Suddenly, Lily recognized what he had said.

"That's what she said!" Lily exclaimed with a loud guffaw. It had been a knee-jerk reaction, the passing humour of the quick joke had faded quickly and she stiffened. For a moment she had forgotten who she was speaking to…Slowly, she looked up in horror to his face. The silence stretched for several moments as Riddle eyed her with an almost convincingly blank face. For only a split second, Lily had been able to read a faint confusion in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Miss Potter, but did you just say 'that is what she said?'" Riddle asked, his eyebrow cocked, clearly judging her from her lame attempt at a joke.

"Sorry, Riddle, it's a…future…er, joke-thing…A bit…vulgar…er…" Lily said, her face turning Weasley red. In her mind she was berating herself for being so crass in the 1940s: had she lost her mind?

"Seems very…witty," Riddle said, turning his eyes back to the crystal ball. Lily could, once again, practically see the wheels in his head turning. With an embarrassed sigh, she turned her focus back to the crystal ball lying between them. They talked only about the assignment for the rest of the class period.

* * *

Lily, like her two brothers, had inherited a great deal of their mother and father's talent on the quidditch pitch. Each of the three Potter children succeeded in making the Gryffindor team during their second year at Hogwarts. Both her brothers were remarkable chasers, especially when placed on the field together. In fact James had a brief stint on the Kenmare Kestrals until he decided to train as an Auror under their father. Lily's talent was, like her father, in the art of catching that pesky snitch; she had yet to fail to catch it before the other team. Lily had received enough injuries in games to cause Madame Pomfrey to send home multiple notes scolding her mother and father for allowing such a clumsy, delicate girl to participate is such a brutish sport.

In addition to the Potter brood, many of their cousins had made the team. In fact, for the last ten years, it had been rare to have a Gryffindor team that wasn't nearly three fourths Weasley descended. This had caused several objections from other Hogwarts teams, and the teachers were forced to monitor the choosing of the teams so as to stop nepotism. This monitoring had no effect of the outcome of the teams, as the Weasley cousins were generally the best around at the sport.

Hugo's greatest strength on the quidditch pitch was his ability to strategize. He was thoroughly his father's son when it came to the complexities of organizing people in a strategically manner. It was for this reason, Hugo was indisputably made captain his fourth year. In addition to his father's ability to strategize, Hugo had also inherited a somewhat startling lack of confidence. He confided in Lily that he was rather nervous to be trying out, having been conducting the try outs for the past three years in their own time.

Despite their fears, both Lily and Hugo had made the 1943 team easily; Hugo as keeper and Lily as seeker. There had been many team-mates who had severely doubted her ability at quidditch before seeing her play. Lily knew that they were, originally, only humouring her when they said she could try out. It was made very clear that females were rare in the sport in the 1940s. After her performance at the try-out, every naysayer immediately took back his skepticism and gave her the respect she deserved.

Her try-out had consisted of her catching the snitch in the most daring way: the Wronski Feint. Her housemates had watched as she plummeted into an incredible dive, executed the manoeuvre perfectly and caught the snitch before the other three male students even caught a glimpse of it.

After she had landed, rather ungracefully, Charlus had nearly tackled her into a bone-crushing hug and began screaming in her ear about how utterly phenomenal she was. Lily laughed merrily at his pride as he swung her around in the hug yelling about how thee cup was in the bag this year. After she had broken from him, she was continually patted on the back by her all-male team-mates.

Throughout the next several days, Charlus continued to proudly enumerate the incredible skills demonstrated by his future great-granddaughter to anyone who would listen. Whenever he would see her, he clapped her heartily on the back. Most people found it rather hilarious to watch, Lily had to threaten him several times before he stopped his bragging.

* * *

Lily watched as the love potion's characteristic tendrils spiraled up above it. She smiled dazedly at nothing as she inhaled its scent deeply, relishing the smell of each individual scent that came into her mind.

Unknown to her, Tom Riddle was watching the red-head closely, lost in his own thoughts. The idea of Amortentia thoroughly repulsed him. Tom was almost certain that this was what his own fool of a blood traitor mother used to keep his filthy muggle father enthralled with her. He felt his suspicion confirmed by the fact that the fumes of Amortentia, which so affected his other classmates, had no effect on him. Tom could smell nothing. He was unsure whether this meant that he was conceived under the potion and therefore immune or whether, as he truly hoped, he had nothing weak enough left inside for the potion to pray on. Either way, he felt reaffirmed by his immunity to the potion. It was his filthy father's weakness and one that he did not possess. He would be soon ridding himself of the taint of his filthy father, he just needed to wait until Christmas Holiday to make his move.

As he observed the red-haired Gryffindor girl, he noticed that she was still looking towards the potion with the mother of pearl sheen in a delighted earnestness. Her eyes were half closed as she leaned on her hand. Tom, unbidden, felt his curiosity peaked by this and let a question burst unintentionally from his lips.

"What do you smell, Miss Potter?" asked the Slytherin softly. The girl, startled out of her reverie, raised her deep blue eyes to his inquiring ones.

"It's Lily," she reminded lightly, a large smile flooding her face. Tom felt some of the air pushed strangely from his lungs as he was struck, once again, by the intensity of the sparkle in those blue eyes. She even had dimples, strangely lopsided dimples, but dimples nonetheless, he noted in disgust. Probably to extenuate her Gryffindor happiness. How had he not noticed them before? Lily Potter looked back to the potion, inhaled the fumes deeply and continued, " I smell freshly cut cedar, cinnamon, wet earth and… well some, er, other things."

Tom nodded and began to think on each item. They seemed perfectly ordinary and more than a bit strange; she was attracted to _dirt_ after all... How could those things attract anyone? What a ridiculous person.

"And you?" the Potter girl asked, an sickeningly encouraging smile on her face that disgusted the Slytherin. He could see what he thought was slyness beneath her expression. She was asking because she thought he would not tell. With some quick thinking he muttered out a generic answer of roses and cherries. It was with barely concealed anger that Riddle realized that Lily's expression had flickered to disbelief. Why did it seem as though she did not believe him? What possible reason had the girl to be suspicious of something so trivial?

Tom felt his temper rising as he stared down at his blank parchment. He hated when secrets were kept from him and he knew that Lily Potter, who held keys to the future, had many of them. Through her Gryffindor inability to keep her heart from her sleeve, she was slowly revealing that she knew a bit more about Tom Marvolo Riddle than she should. He had seen the traces of fear and mistrust in her eyes, as well as those of her male companions. Lily Potter was playing a _very_ dangerous game, but Tom could not figure out whether she knew that she was. Tom always won whatever game he played and she was walking a dangerously fine line.

His attention was returned to the front of the classroom where Professor Slughorn, easily the most gullible professor in the school, stood. To Tom, the man was a complete moron, someone easily swayed by sugared pineapple and a bit of power. He was most certainly a Slytherin with his strange ambition to ride the curtails of those who were great.

Slughorn began his rant on Amortentia and the class began to settle down. Much to Tom's disgust, it seemed they would be brewing the highly illegal and insipid potion in class. He was once again thankful for his immunity to the potion; he had no doubt some of the thicker, desperate girls would attempt to sabotage his pumpkin juice.

"Riddle, would you mind going to get the ingredients from the closet? I don't know if you'll believe this but I am kinda clumsy and, well, considering what already happened with me and the supply-"

"I can get the ingredients, Miss Potter," he said silkily, making his move toward the closet where several of his other classmates had gathered.

By the time he came back from to their desks, levitating the needed ingredients, his red-headed partner had the cauldron set up and bubbling away. She was engaged in a brief conversation with that pathetic Hufflepuff boy Lucas McMillian. Tom felt his nerves tingling in annoyance as McMillian congratulated her on her quidditch skills. Tom almost cursed the boy, out of sheer agitation, when he stated that Lily Potter was 'athletic, intelligent and utterly gorgeous.' Tom felt his insides wrench when he saw the bright red of her face at these words, she was sputtering the usual modest nonsense. While she was distracted with the Hufflepuff's blatant flirting, Tom performed a diagnostic spell on the cauldron. He could not risk a Gryffindor's stupidity throwing off his perfect marks.

A moment after performing said spell, he turned to meet the Potter girl's eyes. She had broken off her conversation with McMillian, a bit of a blush still gracing her features, and was now looking at him with a tiny smile. It was as though she had known he performed a diagnostic spell and was somehow amused by it. Even if she did know, how could that possible be amusing to her? It should insult her. Definitely not amuse her. Moments of silence passed as they began preparing the ingredients, just as Tom began an interesting and productive line of thought, the girls voice broke into his thoughts.

"You know, you come across as someone who never let's his hair down," Lily said with a glance towards the Slytherin Head Boy as she began preparing the shrivelfig. Tom Riddle mentally noted that this comment surprised him. No one made comments like this to him. No one _dared_ to make comments like this to him.

"Do I, Miss Potter? A very random thing to say…Strange that I never thought of my hair as being up," said the Head Boy, cocking his head, trying to hide his supreme annoyance, "And what reason would I have to…let my hair down?

"Oh, you know, certain things like fun…maybe a bit frivolity would spice life up a bit," her laughter mingling with her words and grating on his nerves.

"Fun? Frivolity? I think Miss Potter that you have forgotten the root word of frivolity which is frivolous meaning worthless or bearing little seriousness, in other words, _pointless_. I don't believe that my life needs any 'spicing up'. It's spicy enough for my tastes. Thank you for your concern." Tom could barely keep his annoyance out of his tone.

"Ah, and yet another definition of 'frivolity' would be self-indulgent and happily carefree. And what's life without a bit of carefree moments sprinkled in the mix? I would say that's what's pointless," she said, pulling apart a particularly stubborn shrivelfig.

Tom ignored her, holding his cutting knife a little tighter in irritation. He had to get control of his rage. He could not believe that she was questioning him. It was as though she didn't realise that he was the one in control. A minute or so passed as they continued to carefully cut the roots in front of them.

"Have you ever been to Hogsmeade?" she asked, a red eyebrow raised.

Though Tom was looking at her blankly, she could see a penetrating glare underneath the pleasantly blank façade. She was hitting him with questions that were very telling: she knew something about him. Tom knew he would do well to keep his mouth shut, and let her slip up, but in doing so he could compromise his position in the conversation.

"I have seen no reason for the excursion. And whilst the other students are gallivanting about town, I find the time useful for studying. Less distraction in both the common room and the library," he replied, feeling his blood boiling.

Tom Riddle enjoyed the times when the students emptied the nooks of the school and left it open for his own exploration. Of course, he still had to deal with the first and second years, but they were prone to staying in their common rooms or running about the outdoors. It also didn't hurt that they were, nearly always, in total awe of the handsome, talented Head Boy and therefor quite afraid of getting in his way. She was making this time feel like some kind of defect.

"Have you ever had a butterbeer?" Lily asked slyly, pouring the measured unicorn powder into the cauldron.

Tom shook his head slightly, his irritation was visibly rising beneath his tranquil surface face.

"You know, I think I'd like to see you roaring drunk, like, _completely_ hammered," Lily said abruptly, the very serious expression on her face only broken by the dancing of those damnable blue eyes. Tom Riddle silently watched the girl as she was wracked with laughter. Tom was rather shocked by her over-pouring of mirth at her own comment.

"I have no idea what to say to that, Miss Potter…You say some _ludicrous_ things," the Slytherin said, glancing at the girl in disbelief.

"Well," she said still watching him, with an amused look, he thought he could see some wariness in her eyes, as though she were worried she had crossed the line, "most people lose their inhibitions after drinking. They lose some of their cold, clear-cut, bull shit logic, and I, well, would be very interested to see what you would be like under all that practised perfection."

"Ah, Miss Potter, as wonderful as it is to hear you acknowledge my perfection," the Slytherin drawled, "I assure you that even while intoxicated…Your derogatory comments on logic are thoroughly disturbing ,but, of course, not unexpected coming from a _Gryffindor _such as yourself."

Tom felt his lips twisted up into a satisfied smirk at the insult. A few seconds of silence reigned until Lily, observing his smirk, let out a loud bark of a laugh. Eyes sparkling radiantly, perhaps more than Tom had yet seen them, she spoke again.

"One thing I can't understand is why the _Slytherins_, of this time anyway, seem utterly incapable of a genuine smile. It's either a smirk, a victorious grin or accompanied by a hearty chuckle at another's misfortune. I thoroughly include dear Phineas in that category."

If anything the smirk on his face deepened at her words and Tom turned his eyes to her, studying her still amused face as she continued to work.

* * *

The three time travellers lay sprawled out on a large green and red blankets, taking in the continued warmth of the early September sun. Something stirred Lily Potter from her fitful doze and she turned her head to the left then the right to see if her cousin and friend were still sleeping. Seeing that they were both still deep asleep, she silently stretched, sat up and began ripping small pieces from a conjured bagel and throwing them into the warm shallows of the lake where the Giant Squid was bathing.

Lily hadn't felt more peaceful since they had arrived in 1943 more than a week before. Sitting here with her best friends beside her, soaking in the sun, she could almost forget about the whole Lord Voldemort is alive, handsome, plotting to extract information from her and, best of all, her desk buddy. She could almost forget that she would never see her brothers, parents, cousins or friends again. Almost. Thinking on them was bringing tears to her eyes. She could picture her mother's fierce expressions and her father's kind words and worn emerald eyes. James' mischievous smile and Albus' tinkling laugh.

Her reverie was broken as Hugo sat up and blinked his eyes at her sleepily. Sometimes, though she had known him her entire life, it still surprised her to look into her cousin's eyes. They were the same as the one's she saw in the mirror daily. She smiled at him mischievously as she bounced a piece of the bagel off the centre of his head. Scowling at her, he looked to see whether Phineas was still sleeping. Seeing that he was, Hugo waved his wand a sent a stream of cold water onto the face of his blonde friend.

"AAAAAUUURRRRRGGGHHHHH!" yelled Phineas, jumping up as the freezing water ripped him from his pleasant dreams. "YOU BLOODY BASTARD OF A WEASLEY!"

Lily and Hugo laughed uproariously as Phineas performed a drying charm and quickly styled his white blonde hair back to perfection. The Malfoy continued to glare at the two chuckling Gryffindors as he sat back down on the blanket.

"Good thing you performed the beauty charm, Malfoy. You look absolutely gorgeous now," Hugo said laughing. Phineas ignored him for a moment before turning the conversation to more pleasant things.

Their conversation remained light as they talked for close to a half hour. They touched on their impressions of teachers and students, certain strange slang words of the time, quidditch, the weather. All seemed to be obviously avoiding the subjects that they knew they had to address and address very quickly and efficiently.

" Oy, Malfoy! Who are you staring at?" asked Hugo interestedly, looking where a group of sixth years Gryffindors were playing exploding snap. They seemed to be holding all of Phineas' attention.

The Slytherin jumped and looked guilty at the sound of Hugo's voice. He shifted his eyes down to the blanket and picked a loose piece of string from the fabric. He then looked up with all of the Malfoy arrogance he could muster. He even shook his blonde locks a bit for the effect.

" was just...Have you heard whether Minerva McGonagall has um a boyfriend?" asked Phineas with dignity, his eyes still focused on a laughing dark haired witch in the group. Whatever the two cousins were expecting, it was not that. Lily's eyes widened in a delighted shock.

"WHAT?" roared Hugo, his face lighting up with amazement. The group of girls being examined turned their heads to look at the source of the commotion, clearly startled by the outburst. They quickly got back to their game when they saw that nothing of import was happening.

Lily took a moment to observe the sixteen-year-old Minerva McGonagall. She was a tall thin girl with a long sheet of dark hair that hung straight down her back. She had sharp light green eyes that reminded Lily of the cat animagus she would one day become. She did not wear her customary square glasses. Minerva McGonagall was rather pretty, too, with sharp features, a bit like a pixie. She had an athletically thin body and a very obvious pride in her carriage. Lily could see exactly why Phineas Malfoy would be crushing on Minerva McGonagall.

"It is a perfectly legitimate quest-" hissed Phineas, glaring at the red-headed young man.

"She was-she is-" stuttered Hugo, looking utterly bewildered at his Slytherin friend.

"She is what? Because from what I can see she is a young, talented witch who is the most beautiful woman I have-"

"But-But I-"

"She doesn't have a boyfriend, Phin," Lily said, sending a glare towards her still sputtering cousin, "And Hugo, it's not like we are going to spend the rest of our lives in this time without dating, and those people will technically be much older than us,"

"Seriously though Phin. She was Headmistress. She visits my mum for tea every week. She gave our parents deten-"

"I get it, alright!"

"You do need to be careful though, you know," Lily warned, "how you approach her because this isn't like our era. Gryffindor and Slytherin don't EVER mix. Not as friends or-"

"Sure, sure," said Hugo patronisingly.

"ANYWAYS," Lily continued, glaring at her cousin, her voice dropped to a hushed whisper, "Phineas, how are the Slytherins treating you?"

"Excellent, after all, I am a Malfoy," he said with a wink, his face turned serious as he continued, "Seriously, though, I am being watched every moment I'm in that common room. It is radically different from our time. It reminds me of the stories that Father would tell Scor and I. All that fear, the continuous power struggles. Not as though our Slytherin house didn't have power struggles, but these are ridiculous and all bound in competing for rank. I have hear rank whispered about continuously. And I think we can all guess in what they are trying to raise in rank. Who they are trying to impress..."

The three time travellers exchanged dark, worried glances before silently packing up their items and heading up to the castle under the darkening sky.

* * *

Lily dragged her feet as she paced the corridor. It was very near midnight, the time when she would be thankfully relieved of her pointless patrolling. Though Head Girl in her own time, Lily loathed patrolling, especially since, in her younger years, it was she who would be running around after hours.

Lily was indescribably thankful to her Aunt Hermione who had performed the complex magic of an extension charm on her robes. For this reason, she had had the Marauder's Map on her when she was hit by the falling potions that day and it survived into this new time. She had had fun over the past several days, checking out the names as they drifted over the map. Some were famous in her time, some long dead, some the ancestors of her and her former classmates.

Lily's mind had been racing through the problem that was Tom Riddle and the situation that she now found herself in. She had learned from her father's memories, as well as the history books, that Lord Voldemort was a man with a meticulously thought out plan. In fact, she would now bet her life on the fact that the Tom Riddle stalking the halls of Hogwarts had a plan that involved milking the time travellers for information on future events. And since she noticed the future Dark Lord staring at her more than any other person, and if it was any other person staring, she would assume that she had something on her face or perhaps he had a bit of a crush on her. Knowing that neither of these options were the case, Lily's suspicion that Tom Riddle was attempting to use her were further confirmed in her mind.

If this was indeed the case, he would find a formidable opponent in Lily Potter. Even if she did not have the precious knowledge of Riddle's future plans and possible self, even if she did not have an almost genetic distrust of him, she would be able to see through the lies. Lily was not her mother or her father for that matter, who had trusted the lie that was Tom Riddle for a time.

Her pondering came to an abrupt halt as her foot caught on a slightly uneven flagstone. Cursing viciously, she very nearly face-planted on the ground and was saved only by inches after throwing down her hands. Laughing maniacally in what she thought was a deserted hall, she rolled onto her back and froze, mortified, as she heard soft footsteps approaching. Clearly someone had witnessed her loss of balance.

From her place on the stone floor, Lily could see the dark shadow looming above her. She could feel her face turn the glorious shade of Weasley crimson as she gazed up at the passive face of the handsome Slytherin Head Boy. Lily mentally cursed the chances of falling alone in the hall, only to be discovered by the one and only Lord Voldemort Junior.

"Of course it's the always flawless Tom Riddle who finds me lying on my ass in the middle of the corridor." Lily said sending a radiantly charming smile up at the boy, "I assume you saw me fall too?"

She noticed that it took him a moment to recover. He sent down a charming, and thoroughly fake, smile of his own.

"Yes, I did. Need a hand up, Miss Potter?" Riddle asked smoothly, bending down and gracefully extending a pale hand toward her.

"It's Lily, and yes" she said, placing her hand into his. He pulled her up effortlessly, still smiling at her charmingly. Lily felt her skin crawl as she noticed that the smile did not reach his dark eyes. In her exhausted state, Lily was even more prone to fits of emotion and temper, not a good situation when faced with a teenage Dark Wizard.

"You are free to make your way back to Gryffindor tower, Miss Potter," he said smoothly, ignoring her persistent insistence that he use her first name.

"Right…well, I'll just be going then," Lily said, walking away quickly. Several steps in, she stopped and turned to face Riddle. He was staring straight back at her, clearly he had been watching her leave. She caught the calculating look turn quickly into an emotionless one. Lily gazed back at him, trying to soften her face by thinking of him as any other seventeen-year-old boy, " Goodnight, Riddle."


	7. Plans

**A/N- First of all, sorry it's been so looooooong since I last updated. I fail. But I've had a lot going on. Thank you so much to everyone who is still reading. Special thanks to those who reviewed: verox29, hushpuppy22, Ella, The Crazy Marshmallow. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

The Crazy Marshmallow & Ella- I'm going the route of actually changing the future. It's a departure from Rowling's time-travel in the third book, but for this story I am creating the idea that how far you are thrown back into time will affect whether the known future can be maintained. It's a bit self-indulgent and not as logical, but I figure what the hell.

hushpuppy22-Thanks so much for your encouragement. You really helped motivate me.

* * *

He stood alone staring out into the darkened forest, listening to the movement of the trees above him. He felt a deep calmness and power just by standing silently in the trees of the ancient forest. There was so much magic encircling the massive wood and so much wafting through the branches above and the brambles near his feet. Through the leaves, he could see patches of the velvety black night sky dusted with bright pinpricks of stars. The Forbidden Forest had long been his favourite places, just falling short behind the castle of Hogwarts itself and the dark, dampness of his birthright: the Chamber of Secrets.

He had given strict orders to his Death Eaters to arrive promptly at midnight. He had called the meeting that night to discuss, or rather, give instruction concerning the newest additions to the school. These newcomers had information that was extremely valuable, and perhaps even extremely dangerous to Tom's future plans. Tom was not impercetive. He saw the distrust in the time travellers' eyes when they looked at him, a distrust he was used to seeing only in the eyes of Albus Dumbledore and the orphans at Wools Orphanage.

The Malfoy boy, according to Abraxas, had been very resistant to any form of recruitment. He had over heard Abraxas complaining that Phineas Malfoy had no proper pureblood pride. Indeed Phineas Malfoy seemed completely opposed to everything his relative said regarding the subject. From what Tom could observe, Phineas Malfoy was everything Salazar Slytherin had prized in his students: cunning, ambitious, intelligent. He seemed coolly detached from his housemates, yet highly concerned with his overall image. It seemed unlikely to Tom, that the Malfoy would become a Death Eater anytime soon. It was unlikely that he would allow the power of knowing the future slip through his fingers. No, Tom was certain that as a true Slytherin Malfoy would understand the incredible power he had from his knowledge. He would be even more difficult to recruit as he seemed to have his loyalties wrapped up with those two red-headed Gryffindors, making it unlikely that he would betray them.

As for the Weasley boy, he seemed intelligent, after all, he had got the headship in the future. Tom had had the least interaction with Hugo Weasley, and therefore had the least grasp of his personality and weaknesses. He seemed less guarded than Phineas Malfoy, as a Weasley and a Gryffindor, he would have a much more difficult time with shielding his emotions making him easier prey. But Tom could also see a deep mistrust in him. Tom did not like the way he caught the Weasley looking at him during classes. Perhaps, it was because he was sitting next to his cousin…no it seemed to go further than that.

And the Potter girl was the most infuriating of them all. She was a bit of an enigma to him. On whole, she seemed rather reserved and introverted, but at times she was downright talkative with her witty banter and pathetic jokes. From what he had observed in his classes, she was constantly forgetting her schoolwork, breaking quills on accident and grabbing the wrong books. In short, Tom was convinced that she was extremely scatter-brained…Though he had to admit, she seemed to be an uncommonly talented witch, perhaps even very powerful. He knew he would do well to not underestimate her abilities, still she seemed the best avenue toward information on future events.

Tom could not fail to notice that her two male companions seemed to guard her constantly with their presence, as though they were waiting for someone to pounce and hurt her. He had already begun to make strategic moves to get her on her own. By slowly working her up to Head Girl, Tom would get more and more time alone with her. Time for him to catch her off guard, to manipulate her into divulging her secrets to him. The secrets of the future he so desperately wanted.

Slowly and silently, his Death Eaters began to appear out of the darkness of the forest. Like him, they wore their dark cloaks over their heads, obscuring their features to one another. As the gathered, each took his place in the forming semi-circle facing Tom. He had at least one Death Eater in every house except for Gryffindor. They were silent and obedient, like they had been trained to be. So eager to give up their sovereignty to join and obey him. So willing to accede to him in order to stand in the glow of his greatness.

Once the semicircle was complete, Tom strode confidently forward. He was in his element. He was in complete control, he had the power. A murmur of diffidence rippled through the semicircle. He began to walk around as though on a moonlit stroll with a lover. He did not speak for a moment or two, but continued to watch them, to increase their anticipation.

"The arrival of these time-travelers presents us with a unique opportunity, my Death Eaters. If played correctly we will have valuable information on our hands. The future and all the advances, all its secrets may be laid open to us.

"Though this opportunity has presented itself to us, it means nothing if we do not have the patience and skill to extract the information from within those who possess it. Abraxas," he said, turning to one of the hooded figures, "you will continue to watch the Malfoy boy, however, as he seems to dislike you immensely," there were some sniggers from the crowd at this statement, " it will be the responsibility of all my Death Eaters to gather information from him. The Malfoy seems to have some brains, therefore, use extreme caution when questioning him. It is likely he will be on guard.

"As for our two Gryffindors," the was a slow chuckle of derision from the flock, "They, too, must be carefully observed. Though they will be much more difficult to monitor without a member from the house of Gryffindor, their interactions with the Malfoy are beneficial. Many of their conversations about pertinent information will have to be out in the open, as the Gryffindor Common room cannot be accessed by the Malfoy. Our Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff fellows are to watch the closely," he looked around at the figures of his Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Death Eaters, "Though it seems these Gryffindors have less of an inclination toward disliking Slytherin, they will likely be less cautious of your advances of friendshipe. Still I warn you to proceed with caution."

Tom paused for breath, but was interrupted by a gravelly voice.

"My Lord, I volunteer myself to get closer to the girl-" Avery knelt down in front of him. Tom's blood began to boil at Avery's request and Tom had to actively restrain himself from cursing the Death Eater for his impertinent request.. Avery was utterly transparent and only thought with one particular organ of his body. Indeed, Avery was good for little more than brute strength and his penchant for guiltless violence. He would have no finesse when dealing with the intricacies of their situation.

"No one will touch the girl. She is _mine_. I will deal with her myself," he hissed, his dark eyes burning as he looked into the eyes of each of his followers, "As for the Weasley boy, I expect him to be followed at all possible times. You are to observe his actions, his habits, his words to others. I want to know everything he says, everywhere he goes beyond Gryffindor tower."

"Yes, my Lord." murmured the semi-circle.

"Your instructions have been made clear. You are to lie low this year. We do not want any attention paid to us beyond the ordinary. These time-travellers are your number one priority. Your discretion is critical. Do not fail me."

* * *

Going to classes was rapidly becoming a small battle in the great war. Lily felt as though she were constantly behind enemy lines, right in the action, sitting beside the devil himself. As she walked into her first class of the day, Lily braced herself and sat in her designated place in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom beside Tom Riddle. Lily sat next to Riddle in nearly every class and without fail he was already seated, reading some book every time she entered the classroom. She made a mental promise, as she pulled out a spare piece of parchment, that she would beat him to the next class no matter what.

Lily looked at the boy next to her. His dark eyes were quickly scanning the words on the pages and he seemed to effortlessly understand them. He had an innate grasp of magic that was extremely intimidating, but Lily would not let herself be too impressed by the handsome boy. In order to become anything close to friends, Lily would have to treat Riddle like an equal and not be awed by his exceptional abilities.

"What are you reading?" she asked him. Riddle looked up at her without a trace of annoyance. A lie of course, Lily knew the future Dark Lord had to be annoyed, it was one of the reasons she had interrupted him. She was going to goad him until she got some bit of legitimate emotion out of him. She was going to make him slip up if it was the death of her.

"The Theoretical Practices of the Ancient Wizarding Persians" said Riddle.

"Sounds simply fascinating," she said with a snort. Tom looked at her impassively for a moment and made to turn back to his reading, but Lily couldn't have that, "Did you see the Prophet this morning?"

"No," he said shortly, clearly wanting her to leave him alone. Lily continued on, ignoring the clear social hint.

"Dumbledore has left for Germany. To help fight Grindelwald, you know. They'll probably announce it at lunch," she said, examining his reaction closely. His face remained impassive.

"How very interesting. When does he come back?" he asked, looking unconcerned by the information. Perhaps, Lily thought, he had already know.

"The paper didn't say. As long as it takes, I suppose," she said, nonchalantly.

"Which will be how long?" drawled Riddle. His eyebrow was raised, making him look like a stuffy aristocrat. And it all came together, he was clearly trying to get information about the future out of her. Lily was not going to play his game.

"Oh, very clever Riddle. But I'm not telling you," she said icily, looking away from him pointedly.

"So Dumbledore will come back," he pressed on with a smile. He was clearly trying to charm her into spilling even more information.

"I never said that," she replied, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. Damn, damn, damn.

"Yes, but it was very much implied," he said, she could practically hear him smirking. Sure enough, when she looked back at him he had a Slytherin smirk planted on his face.

"You're reading into things," she said calmly.

"If I am wrong, which I am not, then you seem to be very blasé about your favorite professor getting killed in the war," he replied. Lily laughed.

"You just implied that Dumbledore was my favorite professor, that is certainly reading into things," she said. She glared at him.

"I am just observing your cold behavior, Miss Potter," said Riddle, as he pulled out a large black quill and a roll of parchment.

"It's Lily," she reminded him, a little too harshly for polite conversation. Silence fell between them as the rest of their classmates filed in and their professor began class.

Tom was beginning to understand that Lily Potter was intentionally irritating him. She seemed to derive great amusement from his irritation, like a naughty child. Tom could not imagine what was possessing her to do act so puerile. It was foolish to say the least, extremely foolish considering who he was.

When she had first interrupted his reading, he was supremely irritated, however the information the girl provided concerning Dumbledore was very interesting. The girl clearly knew the outcome of the war. She did not seem to be able to watch herself close enough to not reveal valuable information. This could definitely work to his advantage.

So, Dumbledore will defeat Grindelwald. It was clear from her lack of anxiety in presenting the information and her subtle acknowledgement of his later return to Britain. Tom wondered whether she had studied this era during her previous years at Hogwarts.

Dumbledore's absence from Hogwarts would also give Tom great freedom within the school. Freedom that he had never enjoyed. Constantly and consistently, the old coot had been breathing down his neck, waiting and hoping to catch him in wrong doing. How close he had come when that Ravenclaw Myrtle had been killed in the bathroom. Tom cursed his eleven-year-old self, who had so foolishly revealed secrets to Dumbledore, it had left him constantly under suspicion. Now that Dumbledore was gone, he and his associates would not be as closely watched. The professors that remained at the school were completely wrapped around his fingers. The poor fools had no doubts concerning him. Brilliant, handsome, orphaned Tom Riddle.

He glanced over at Lily Potter. She was biting on her quill like an insipid first year, listening to their professor drone about things he had learned in his fourth year. She noticed his attention and looked back at him. A quizzical look passed on her face before she smiled at him. It was a kind smile, her eyes were twinkling at him. Tom felt a hitch of the deepest revulsion in his stomach. He was going to break her, and she was going to spill all her secrets to him.

* * *

Lily, Hugo and Phineas were settled down onto the plush couches in the Room of Requirement. Hugo was sprawled out on the smaller one, while Lily lay on the other, her feet in Phineas' lap. A roaring fire blazed in the large fireplace, crackling merrily.

"So, Phin, have you spoken to Minerva McGonagall yet?" asked Lily. Hugo chuckled. Phineas looked every bit the haughty Slytherin when he replied.

"Yes, I speak to her all the time. We do sit next to each other in two classes."

"That definitely doesn't count, mate. Have you talked to her about anything other than the proper wand motions for transfiguring a turnip into a hippo?" said Hugo with a laugh. Phineas glared at him, but said nothing.

"Aw, leave the poor man alone, Hugh," said Lily, snuggling deeper into the pillows of the sofa, "I could help you out, Phin, Minerva and I are becoming pretty good friends in our dorm. I could have us sit by her-"

"Do whatever you think is best, Potter," he said with an air of dismissal.

"Oh take that Potter and shove it, Malfoy. I'm just trying to help you out. No need to get so huffy," Lily said, poking Phineas in side with her foot. He slapped her foot away, so she continued to do it, trying to tickle him.

"Alright, enough about my love life and onto the subject of Tom Riddle," said Phineas, grabbing both her feet.

"Not that jackass again," Lily said. Hugo sniggered at her comment, while Phineas chose to ignore it.

"So, we need to discuss our options concerning him. We could, of course, ignore what we know is coming and let time take its course." Lily and Hugo began to protest instantly, "I thought not, and I agree wholeheartedly. The first option to prevent Voldemort's rise would be to seriously injure or kill him-"

"Only a Slytherin could talk about that so calmly," said Hugo with a short, slightly bitter laugh.

"Yes, well, if things get bad enough we may have to consider it," Phineas said. The trio exchanged meaningful looks, but remained silent for a moment.

"I would definitely prefer not to spend my life as a killer, but thanks," said Lily, "Our other options include sabotaging ever plan he has, which will be extremely difficult because we would have to know exactly what those plans were. We could also try to change him, you know, somehow get him to change and have morals."

"Yeah, Lils, that's likely," said Hugo, with a derisive snort.

"We have to try, though, don't we?" she snapped, sitting up a little straightened

"What try to be his friend? That'll never work," said Hugo. Lily glowered at him.

"It could though. Maybe no one ever really tried," she said.

"We can't live in your idealistic world where everyone has some redeeming, wonderful qualities that will come out if properly nurtured-"

"You don't know that they wouldn't!" she said, raising her voice a bit.

"Don't be so naïve, Lily. This is Lord Voldemort we are talking about. Not some misguided teenage wizard who wants someone to take him by the hand and lead him down the right path," said Hugo, leaning forward to glare at his defiant-faced cousin.

"Lily, I think we should concentrate on finding out what his plans are and stopping them. While your route would be ideal and cut the problem at the root and all that, it's impossible," said Phineas.

"Fine, then, we try to catch him at something and generally sabotage him somehow. But how the hell are we going to find out what he's doing? The only things I know about him in this time period is that he opened the Chamber, which he has already done, and he killed his grandparents and father…I'm not sure if he has done that yet. We don't even know if he's made a horcrux or two yet. I know that Dad said Riddle didn't find out exactly how to make a horcrux until after he killed his father," she said.

"But I would think he made one from Moaning Myrtle. The diary, I thought," said Hugo.

"Yes, Dad said the diary was made from Myrtle's murder, but apparently it doesn't have to be made directly after the killing. Murder rips the soul no matter what, the only chance for repair is in remorse, which Voldemort did not feel. So Riddle has the rips on his soul, but until we find out whether he murdered his family we don't know if he has created a horcrux as of yet,"

"Why does he need to kill his family to make the horcrux? Why wouldn't he have already done it?"

"Because he didn't question Slughorn about creating horcruxes until after he had killed his family," she said.

"How do you remember these apparently insignificant details but couldn't even remember Voldemort's real name when we got here?" asked Hugo with a laugh.

"I don't know. I guess I've had to access that part of my brain for the first time and it's all falling into place," she replied.

"Alright, so our first order of business is to find out whether Riddle has killed his family yet. That'll tell us whether he has created a horcrux at this point," said Phineas.

"I suppose we can look into the muggle records to see if they are still alive. That'll take ages though. We don't even know the town they live in," said Hugo.

"I don't remember the name of the town, but I do remember that Riddle pinned the murders on his uncle. So we can look at the records of Azkaban and see if he has been sent in for their murders," said Lily.

"Brilliant, Lils," said Hugo.

"Only one problem: do you know the uncle's name?" asked Phineas.

"Gaunt," she said, "The last name is Gaunt. His grandfather is Marvolo, like Riddle's middle name…and his mother's name is…ugh I can't remember. Not shocking really seeing as I didn't even remember Voldy's real name at first."

"You are quite the failure, Lils, even though you somehow remembered the details of Voldemort asking Slughorn and-" said Hugo.

"Oh shut up, will you? But it really is lucky that I paid attention at all. How was I to know that all the information on the war could possibly be put to any use?" she said.

"We need to our ears open for Riddle's plans and keep our mouths shut in public. Riddle will certainly have the Death Eaters watching us, and we can't be too careful in what we say around people," said Phineas. He hesitated for a moment, "Do you-do you think I should become a spy?"

"What?" asked Hugo, clearly horrified.

"Abraxas is clearly trying to recruit me to Voldemort's gang…should I let him?" Phineas' eyes were on his lap where Lily's feet still lay. He saw them slide of his lap, Lily moved toward him, placing her hand in his.

"No." she said, looking very upset, "No, you can't Phineas. Not now. Maybe…maybe if things get really bad. But not yet. Not until we absolutely have to."

Silence filled the room as they stared into the flames, each lost in their own thoughts. Lily's hand still in Phineas's.

"We are completely in over our heads," said Phineas. Lily nodded solemnly, gripping his hand tighter.

"Yes, we are completely and utterly fucked," agreed Hugo, "Now who wants to have a go at chess?"

* * *

Once again, as had been the case for the last week or so, Phineas tried to ignore the glares of his fellow Slytherins and the interested stares of the other students of Hogwarts. Most members of Gryffindor had begun to accept his presence at their table. Some had even taken to chatting with him as they ate their meals.

At the very first opportunity, which just so happened to be breakfast, Lily had made good on her promise to help facilitate an opportunity to speak with Minerva McGonagall outside of the classroom. Phineas now sat across from the dark-haired young woman, his stomach clenching a bit with nerves as he tried to eat his rashers.

All that he could do was glance at her every minute or so. He wished he could openly gaze at her, but that would probably alarm the people surrounding him. Minerva's light green eyes were so sharp, holding intelligence and a clear strength of will. It was this ferocity of character that struck Phineas the most. Just by looking at the girl, he could see an iron-clad set of values. This was a person who knew exactly who she was and to hell what anyone else though.

Lily and Minerva were chatting about the most recent Daily Prophet article. Lily kept glancing at him, clearly trying to encourage him to enter their conversation. Phineas knew this was the perfect opportunity to converse with the witch, but he couldn't muster up the courage. He had never had the problem of freezing up in front of witches but Minerva McGonagall was so differrent from other witches he had met.

"Well, Phineas here happens to know all about the theories of international magical law. Don't you Phin? The other day you were talking about the implications of integrating the laws of separate magical ministries into one cohesive thingy," Lily said, drawing him into the conversation. Phineas knew that Lily Potter detested politics, a trait she had very much in common with her father and mother. She was clearly only engaging in this conversation to give him a proper in.

He hestitated for the space of a minute as Minerva's eyes fell upon him, waiting for him to speak.

"Clearly there are many potential drawbacks to international magical cooperative law, however in light of the current war the benefits are obvious," he began. Lily casually sneaked out of the conversation, continued reading the Daily Prophet, a small smile on her face. Phineas could have kissed her he was so grateful.

Minerva was even more intelligent and interesting than he had imagined. Throughout their discussion, Minerva's face remained stern and impassive. And suddenly, Phineas had a new plan, he wanted to make Minerva McGonagall laugh. He wasn't a funny lad, that had always been Hugo's role, but somehow he was going to see her face light up with laughter.

* * *

Hugo was by far the best and most efficient researcher, a trait he inherited from his meticulous mother. He began his research into Tom Riddle's family by searching through the family tree of Slytherin, tracing the bloodline to the notably mentally insane, pauper Gaunt family. He laid aside the books most pertinent to their future research on the lineage of their Tom Riddle. The trio had decided that because Riddle focused on his 'noble' ancestry, they could only benefit in their mission by knowing something about it too.

Hugo and Lily now sat curled up in one corner of the library, looking through Daily Prophets and Ministry registrations for any hint of the illusive family. The duo had first tried looking into the Hogwarts records, but no Gaunt had attended Hogwarts for nearly a hundred years, nor had their births been registered with the ministry or with St. Mugo's. The cousins were becoming progressively more irritated and exhausted.

"Honestly! It's like these people have barely existed for the last two hundred years," said Hugo, throwing down a list of ministry employees, "I haven't even found any registration at the ministry for anything."

"Maybe they're paranoid of the ministry or something. I know that his family were the worst kind of blood supremacists, so maybe they didn't want to be associated with anything that accepted muggle-borns in the slightest bit, hence the avoidance of the ministry and Hogwarts," she said.

"Still, it's a little excessive, don't you think. To not even go to Hogwarts…it's insanity," he said with distaste. Lily laughed and silence fell between them once more. Every now and then one of them would sigh or shift their positions, silently praying the next word they read would be a reference to the Gaunts.

The library was beginning to drain of students and the twilit sky was darkening rapidly. Knowing that it was likely to be her last document of the night, Lily was slowly but surely scanning through a Daily Prophet from the 1910s when Hugo spoke suddenly.

"I think I found them!"

Lily looked up at him, shifting over to look and the newspaper he was holding. The small article read: Morfin Gaunt Charged with Muggle-Baiting and Resisting Arrest

"Muffliato. Does it say the age of Morfin? That must be the uncle, that Voldemort framed for the Riddles' murder," she said, excitedly.

"It says he was twenty-three in 1924 and sentenced to three years in Azkaban. So he got out in 1927 by the looks of it," he said, still examining the newspaper. His face lit up once more, "It seems Marvolo Gaunt, age forty-two, was sentenced the same day as Morfin for injuring ministry personnel and resisting arrest. He was to be released later that year."

"I think he died shortly after that…Well, we've definitely found them then," she said, "Does it say where they lived?'

"Yeah, some place called Little Hangleton in Shropshire," he said, scanning the article.

"Lovely! Now we just need to visit Little Hangleton and make sure the Riddle family is still alive," she said.

"You're sure they live in the same village then?"

"Yeah, I'm sure, that's how his mother met the first Tom Riddle," she said, "Is there any mention of her in the article?"

"No, nothing about her," Hugo replied.

"Oh well, I guess we've been lucky enough for one night," Lily said.

"We better get going. You've got to get to patrolling with You-Know-Who," he said.

"Ugh, don't call him that. I don't want to deal with him. I just want to sleep," she said, gathering her things rather reluctantly.

"I'd really rather you not patrol with him, especially with Dumbledore gone. Maybe if you go to Dippet and try-" Hugo said, looking worried.

"Hugo, I can handle it. Don't worry, I'm a big strong girl," she said, looking at him sympathetically.

"I'm going to worry," he said, "I'll be up studying until you get back."

"Hugo, that isn't necessary."

"I just need to study...late," he said unconvincingly, avoiding her eyes.

"You're a liar, Hugh," Lily said.

* * *

The evening patrol passed with no incident. Lily had endured Riddle's presence as they patrolled the corridors. They spoke little, and when they did it was on simple matters like schoolwork, left to her own thought, Lily turned her mind to the situation of Tom Riddle. He seemed to be consuming her every minute, she couldn't seem to escape him. She sat next to him in nearly every class, heard his name constantly in the giggles of females, saw him lurking in the Great Hall, and now she had to patrol with him. Even her dreams had the figure of the snakelike Voldemort weaving throughout. It was a dangerous situation to be in. Tom Riddle or Lord Voldemort or whoever he was should not be consuming her waking and dreaming thoughts.

Her attempt to draw her friend and cousin into what she had dubbed "Operation De-Voldy" had failed utterly. She had hoped, without much hope herself, that the two boys would support and understand her desire to reform denial had only reaffirmed the rightness of her choice in her mind.

Lily knew it was absolutely reckless and positively stupid and definitely not going to work at all, but she couldn't help but at least try. If she could somehow get Tom Riddle to understand or, at best, feel love or friendship, then perhaps she would be able to save him. From what she had learned about Tom Riddle, she knew he was not literally a psychopath, as he could feel anger, hate, happiness (at the expense of others). Which meant that he could, theoretically experience love and genuine affection. Couldn't he?

Riddle was a genius, and as an evil genius it seemed very unlikely that they were going to successful thwart or catch him. So, Lily was going to befriend the bastard or die trying…maybe kill him trying. Yeah, that sounded a little more agreeable. But the point was, she would succeed or someone was going to die.

She promised herself that while she might be idealistic, she would not be naïve and under no circumstances would she intentionally lower her guard around Riddle. That would be far to similar to playing near an open flame with a can of gasoline.

"Potter, it's midnight," said Riddle as they passed the statue of Barnabas the Barmy.

"So, we're done for the night then?" she asked.

"Yes, would you like to walk you back to Gryffindor tower?" asked Riddle. Lily hesitated. No, no she did _not _want him to walk her to Gryffindor tower.

"Sure, that would be lovely. And it's Lily," Lily said. The two began to walk to Gryffindor tower silently.

"So, Potter-" Riddle began.

"It's Lily," she said, once again.

"Have given any thought to assuming the full responsibilities of Head Girl," asked Riddle. Lily

"I just-I don't understand why-I really wouldn't be comfortable taking the headship for Amber DeCorno," she said.

"Oh, I didn't realize you were friends," he said, dispassionately.

"No, no we aren't. But that doesn't mean I want to usurp her position or anything," she said.

"The headmaster agrees that DeCorno is not the proper choice for the job."

"And he has decided that I am from the two brief conversations that I had with him?"

"As I have said, other teachers recommended you based on your skill. And you are clearly up for the job, seeing as you were head girl at...your Hogwarts," said Riddle.

"Yes, but I earned that," she said, "There are others here that deserve it more. Who have been-"

"DeCorno will be stripped of her title whether you take the position or not, Potter," he said, his irritation was becoming even more evident to Lily. Clearly, the conversation was not going the way he had planned.

They approached the portrait of the Fat Lady in silence. Both thinking deeply.

"Well, I guess I'll think about it...Goodnight, Riddle," she said.

"Goodnight, Potter," Riddle said, bowing his head shortly and turning on his heel. Lily watched him walk away until she heard the voice of the Fat Lady cut in.

"Ooooo he's so handsome and _such_ a gentleman. You are a lucky girl, Miss Potter. Next time you should kiss him," the portrait gushed.

"_Vigilance," _Lily said dully. The portrait swung open and she stepped in.

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